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A    LAPP    FAMILY, 


Norsk,  Lapp  and  Finn 


OR,    TRAVEL    TRACINGS    FROM 


THE  FAR  NORTH  OF  EUROPE 


FRANK  VINCENT,  Jr. 

AUTHOR    OF   "    THE   LAND    OF  THE   WHITE    ELEPHANT,"    ''  THROUGH    AND 
THROUGH    THE   TROPICS,"    ETC. 


WITH    ROUTE    MAP    AND    FRONTISPIECE 


LONDON 
SAMPSON  LOW,   MARSTON,  SEARLE  &  RIVINGTON 

CROWN  BUILDINGS,    l83   FLEET  STREET 
l88l 


1l<ht 


Press  of 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York 


4 

V 

y 


)/77 

mi 


TO 

HEKRY  M.  STANLEY 

THK   GREATEST  OF  ALL  AFRICAN   EXPLORERS 

THIS   WORK    IS    INSCRIBED 

IN  ADMIRATION   OF  HIS  INESTIMABLE   SERVICES 

TO   SCIENCE  AND   CIVILIZATION 


PREFACE. 


It  was  Goethe,  if  my  memory  serves  me  aright,  who 
announced  three  test  questions  upon  the  correct  answers 
•to  which  the  canons  of  literary  criticism  are  based  : 
first,  what  does  the  author  propose  to  do  ?  second,  is  it 
worth  the  doing  ?  third,  has  he  done  it  well  ?  Since 
these  searching  interrogatories  will  doubtless  be  made 
in  due  course  regarding  the  present  writer,  some  expla- 
nation may  be  allowed  him  in  reply  to  the  first,  the 
others  being  left  to  the  consideration  of  notoriously  im- 
partial and  cultured  critics. 

Though  I  have  travelled  much  "  up,  down,  and 
around  the  world,"  it  has  always  been  my  aim  to  write 
only  of  the  less-frequented  and  consequently  the  less- 
known  countries,  whether  or  not  they  offered  the  most 
romantic  opportunities  for  picturesque  description.  In 
the  present  instance,  fortunately,  not  only  are  the  places 
and  peoples  I  describe  but  little  known,  but  the  novelty 
also  of  customs  and  manners  leaves  me  no  excuse  for 
being  dull. 

My  prior  wanderings  were  in  the  bright  summerland 
of  the  Tropics,  where,  as  Humboldt  has  happily  re- 
marked, "  the  native  may  behold  all  the  vegetable  forms 


VI  PREFACE. 

of  the  earth  without  quitting  his  own  clime."  Now 
would  I  take  my  readers  with  me  to  the  Arctic  Zone, 
the  Tropics'  natural  counterpart.  In  this  great  division 
of  the  earth,  instead  of  large  showy  flowers  and  gigantic 
parasitic  plants,  one  finds  the  dwarf  birch,  the  gray 
alder  shrub,  pliant  willows,  and  meads  pale  with  lichen. 
In  zones  where  heat  prevails,  Nature  pours  out  her 
bounties  so  profusely  that  it  would  seem  as  though  she 
must  perforce  be  niggard  here.  About  the  Equator  I 
found  Man  ardent  and  effusive,  the  emotions  responding 
with  the  vivacity  of  childhood  to  every  impression, 
whether  sad  or  joyous;  but  north  of  the  Polar  Circle 
his  temperament  becomes  frigid  and  passive,  and,  as  in 
old  age,  almost  insensible  alike  to  pain  or  pleasure. 
Could  there  be  antitheses  more  striking  ?  In  such  con- 
trasts and  comparisons,  however,  is  found  the  greatest 
charm  of  Boreal  travel. 

Scandinavia  and  Finland  should  be  of  additional 
and  special  interest  to  us,  since  so  many  of  their  natives 
emigrate  to  America,  where,  settling  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts of  the  great  Western  States,  they  materially  help 
an  agricultural  development.  Our  manufacturing  in- 
dustries also  are  greatly  benefited  by  the  acquisition  of 
these  skilful  people  of  the  North.  Since  1820,  300,000 
men  and  women  have  emigrated  hither  from  Denmark, 
Norway,  Sweden,  and  Finland.  Their  children,  born  in 
the  United  States,  would  about  double  this  estimate, 
thus  raising  the  Norsk  and  Finn  element  in  our  popula- 
tion to  a  total  of  600,000.  The  States  selected  as  new 
homes  by  these  foreigners — who  are  still  coming  at  the 


PREFACE.  VI 1 

rate  of  about  15,000  a  year — stand  thus  in  order  of 
patronage :  Minnesota,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa. 
A  small  proportion  of  the  emigrants  are  musicians, 
clergymen,  and  teachers  ;  others  are  clerks  or  adroit 
artisans,  such  as  carpenters,  masons,  and  so  forth.  The 
vast  majority  are  steady,  frugal,  hard-working  laborers 
and  farmers.  A  few  are  merchants,  and  many — of  the 
women  especially — are  capable  and  faithful  servants, 
and  thus  constitute  phenomena  unknown  to  New  York 
and  her  surrounding  cities. 

Since  the  year  1556  there  has  been  a  small  library 
of  works  published  concerning  these  northern  nations, 
though  I  have  found  no  book  which  recognizes  the 
ethnographical,  philological,  and  topographical  pro- 
priety of  grouping  all  of  them  together  for  literary 
treatment.  When  thus  combined  they  make  the  re- 
spectable showing  of  ten  millions  of  people,  occupying 
the  entire  northwestern  corner  of  Europe — an  area  of 
nearly  half  a  million  square  miles.  It  is  natural  that 
these  enormous  numbers  should  have  given  authors 
something  to  write  about,  but  such  books  as  still  sur- 
vive seem,  for  the  most  part,  rather  out  of  date  or  out 
of  service,  in  that  they  do  not  show  that  contempora- 
neous status  which,  as  supplementing  the  past,  is  essen- 
tial to  the  student  of  civilization.  It  has,  therefore, 
been  my  endeavor  herein  to  present  not  only  the  latest, 
but  also  the  most  authentic  information  obtainable,  to- 
gether with  such  statistics,  facts,  and  details  as  seemed 
necessary  to  furnish  a  clear  idea  of  the  intellectual,  in- 
dustrial, and  commercial  conditions  of  these  countries, 


VI 11  PREFACE. 

always  bearing  in  mind  that  Man  is  vastly  more  impor- 
tant than  Nature. 

I  have  not  forgotten  that  Bayard  Taylor's  Summer 
and  Winter  pictures  of  Scandinavia  won  the  deserved 
reputation  of  being  the  best  work  in  English  in  regard 
to  this  portion  of  the  globe.  It  was  written,  however, 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  is,  therefore,  slightly 
antiquated.  I  fear  that  I  am  using  this  fact  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  my  own  temerity,  but  I  likewise  remember  that 
Mr.  Taylor  did  not  visit  Finland  at  all,  and  that  what- 
ever personal  knowledge  he  obtained  of  Denmark  was 
acquired  by  a  stay  of  three  days  only  in  Copenhagen, 
to  a  description  of  which  he  devotes  less  than  two 
pages  of  his  book. 

One  of  the  principal  objects  of  my  going  abroad, 
however,  was  to  study  the  Lapps  as  they  were  in  their 
own  homes  and  at  their  everyday  labors  and  occa- 
sional recreations.  This  object  I  was  able  to  accom- 
plish entirely  to  my  satisfaction  so  far  as  the  gathering 
of  the  desired  information  was  concerned  ;  but  whether 
I  have  succeeded  in  transmitting  my  impressions  in  a 
desirable  form  to  the  public,  is  a  question  which  I  ask 
myself  without  being  able  to  answer. 

It  is  pleasant  for  the  traveller  who  has  told  his  tale 
to  know  that  he  has  excited  in  the  stay-at-home  reader 
a  curiosity  to  view  for  himself  the  distant  landscapes  of 
tenderness  or  grandeur  and  far-away  people  whose 
language,  opinions,  habits  and  institutions  are  vastly 
different  from  his  own.  The  materials  for  creating  this 
curiosity   met   me   at   every   step   during   my  journey 


PREFACE.  IX 

through  the  High  North,  and  if  the  sequel  proves  that 
I  have  failed  to  weave  them  into  a  volume  having  a 
value  more  than  fleeting,  I  shall  have  the  sorrowful 
conviction  that  I  have  fallen  behindhand  since  my  early- 
Oriental  tours. 

New  York,  September,  1881. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE v 

CHAPTER  I. 

A  Sea-Girt  Kingdom. 

From  Paris  to  Hamburg. — Choice  of  Routes  thence  to  Copen- 
hagen.— Characteristics  of  Hamburg. — Scenery  between 
Hamburg  and  Kiel. — The  Islands  of  Denmark. — Primitive 
Signification  of  the  word  "  Denmark." — A  few  Statistics 
about  the  Island  of  Sealand. — Remarkable  Round  Church 
near  Soro. — Sights  to  be  seen  at  Roeskilde,  the  Ancient 
Capital  of  Denmark. — Its  Antique  Brick  Cathedral. — The 
last  resting  place  of  the  Danish  Kings,  from  Harold  to 
Frederick  VII. — Religious  Toleration  in  Denmark. — Cer- 
tificates of  Baptism  and  Confirmation,  when  necessary. — 
The  village  of  Om. — Denmark,  the  land  of  Antiquities. — 
Numerous  Antiquarian  Societies. —  From  Roeskilde  to  Co- 
penhagen        I 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Merchant's  Haven. 

General  Aspects  of  Copenhagen. — Definition  of  the  Name. — 
Manner  in  which  the  City  is  Built. — Its  low  Situation. — 
Its  Quaint  Architecture. — Its  Drivers  forbidden  to  demand 
"  pour-boire." — Danish  Specialties. — Excellence  of  the 
Watches. — Personal  Appearance  of  the  Inhabitants. — Their 
gayety  contrasted  with  the  stolidity  of  the  Dutch. — Their 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Refinement  and  Amiability. — Masculine  Osculation. — Ele- 
mentary Education. — The  Copenhagen  Library  and  Zoo- 
logical Museum. — Literary  and  Educational  Societies. — 
The  Vor  Frue  Kirke  and  the  Vor  Frelsers  Kirke. — Simi- 
larity of  the  Citizens  of  Copenhagen  to  those  of  Vienna 
and  Paris. — Thorwaldsen's  Museum. — The  principal  Royal 
Residence. — Christian  IX.  and  his  Children 13 

CHAPTER  III. 

Chronological  Collections. 

The  Museum  of  Northern  Antiquities. — Relics  of  Early  Civili- 
zation.— The  Ethnographical  Museum. — One  of  the  most 
extensive  in  Europe. — Attempts  at  Art  by  Primeval  Man. — 
Collection  of  the  Kings  of  Denmark. — Mention  of  a  few  of 
the  more  Famous  Curiosities. — The  Oldenborg  Horn. — A 
remarkable  Vase  of  Christian  IV.'s  Time. — Banqueting 
Hall  in  the  Palace  of  Rosenborg. — Number  of  Vessels  an- 
nually entering  the  Port  of  Copenhagen. — Exports  and 
Imports. — Industry  and  Enterprise  of  the  Danes. — Island 
Colonies  of  Denmark. — Commercial  Importance  of  those 
in  the  West  Indies. — Steamers  between  Copenhagen  and 
Reikiavik 24 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Metropolis  of  Norway. 

From  Copenhagen  to  Christiania. — Elsinore. — The  Picturesque 
Fortress  of  Kronborg. — Holger  Danske. — The  Kattegat 
and  the  Skager  Rak. — Their  Peculiarities. — The  Bay  of 
Christiania. — Derivation  of  the  name  Christiania. — Visit  of 
the  King. — His  Civil  List  and  Literary  Abilities. — The 
Robin  Hood  of  Norway. — His  Wonderful  Adventures. — 
Travellers  anxious  to  see  the  Midnight  Sun. — The  Railway 
from  Christiania  to  Trondjhem. — Boy  and  Girl  Postil- 
ions.— Carriole  Travelling. — The  Stations. — I  begin  my 
long  Tour  through  Norway 34 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

CHAPTER  V. 
Field,  Foss,  and  Fiord. 

PAGB 

Attaining  the  summit  of  Fille  Field. — Appearance  of  the  White- 
capped  Mountains. — Sensations  on  leaving  Civilization 
behind  Me. — Pretty  Peasant  Women.  — A  very  Old  Church, 
Byzantine  and  Romanesque  in  Style. — Steaming  along  the 
Sogne  Fiord. — Features  of  the  Scenery. — Naerofiord. — 
Farms  sprinkled  two  thousand  feet  above. — A  Queer  Turn- 
out.— Plenty  of  Waterfalls  and  denser  Vegetation. — Re- 
markable Branches  of  the  Great  Fiord. — The  Pretty  Vil- 
lage of  Odde. — The  Site  of  a  Metal  Norwegian  Flag.— A 
Description  of  some  of  the  Norwegian  Cataracts. — The 
Ringdalfoss. — Norway  the  Fatherland  of  Waterfalls. — 
Approaching  the  City  of  Bergen 45 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Two  Old  Norse  Cities. 

Bergen  once  the  Capital  of  Norway. — Its  present  Population. — 
German  Appearance  of  the  City. — Its  Trade  in  Codfish, 
Cod-Liver  Oil  and  Herrings. — Its  Monstrous  Ware- 
houses.— Picturesque  Situation  of  Bergen. — A  Concert  by 
Ole  Bull. — The  Fortnightly  Line  of  Steamers  between  Ber- 
gen and  New  York. — The  few  Passengers  who  were  going 
a  portion  of  my  Route. — Intricate  and  Dangerous  Naviga- 
tion.— The  Necessity  of  taking  two  Pilots  from  Bergen  to 
Hammerfest. — Christiansund.— Its  distinctive  Character. — 
The  Contents  of  its  Park.— Trondjhem.— Another  Town 
that  was  once  Norway's  Capital. — The  Restored  Cathedral, 
with  its  conflicting  Architectures. — Olaf  the  Patron  Saint 
of  Norway. — The  Necropoli  of  Norway  and  Sweden. — 
Their  Desecration.— A  Norwegian  Funeral  Procession. — 
From  Sunds vail  to  Stockholm 59 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Off  and  On  the  Coast. 

A  Traveller's  Sensation  in  Unknown  Places.— The  Departure 
from  Trondjhem.— Passing  the  Mountain  Torghattan.— Its 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Natural  Tunnel. — Mountains  as  seen  from  the  Sea  and 
Valleys. — Coasting  along  Nordland. — The  Snow-moun- 
tains of  Svartisen. — The  three  Grand  Glacier  Systems  of 
Norway. — We  anchor  near  the  Town  of  Mo. — Customs 
Adopted  in  Norwegian  Churches. — My  Difficulty  with  my 
Scanty  Stock  of  Norsk. — The  Norwegian  Clergy. — Ser- 
vices.— Boat-building  the  Chief  Employment. — "  Fra  Mo- 
bilabama  ved  Mississippi-Floden". — Extremes  Meet 70 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Crossing  the  Arctic  Circle. 

Returning  down  the  Fiord. — Flocks  of  Sea-birds. — The  Moun- 
tain Hestmando. — Superstition  of  Norwegian  Fishermen. — 
Passing  the  Polar  Parallel. — Contrasting  the  Sensations 
felt  at  this  Point  with  those  experienced  in  crossing  the 
Equator. — An  Hour  at  Bodo. — The  Fishing  Banks  of  the 
Loffodens. — The  Gill-net  System. — What  becomes  of  the 
Fish  that  are  Caught. — Sending  Cod- roes  to  France  and 
Spain. — Dispelling  the  Illusions  of  Childhood. — Are  Geog- 
raphies Romances  ? — The  Truth  about  the  Notorious 
Maelstrom. — It  is  a  very  harmless  Affair. — Coast  Scenery 
near  the  Loffodens. — Mildness  of  the  Climate. — Where 
Siberian  Agriculture  Ceases. — Dr.  Schubeler 77 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Farthest  Thule. 

Islands  on  the  West  Coast  of  Norway. — Fishing  Stations  in 
the  Loffodens. — Scenery  from  the  Arctic  Circle  to  Trom- 
soe. — Situation  of  Tromsoe. — Hammerfest. — The  most 
Northern  Town  in  the  World. — Its  Situation. — Its  tumble- 
down Warehouses  and  Dwellings. — A  Model  little  Inn 
where  good  things  could  be  obtained. — Prevailing  odor 
of  Cod-liver  Oil. — Seeing  it  manufactured. — Going  to 
bed  at  Midnight  by  Daylight. — An  Interesting  Granite 
Column. — Extraordinary  Jelly-fish. — Their  Cerebral  De- 
ficiencies.— The  Press  in  Hammerfest 87 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER  X. 

Country,  Character,  and  Customs. 

PAGE 

Dimensions  of  Norway. — The  Ancient  Moraines. — Work  for 
the  Palaeontologist  and  Geologist. — The  Lemmings. — The 
Manner  in  which  they  live  and  move  and  have  their 
being. — A  Great  Scourge  to  Norway. — Exportation  of 
Valuable  Wood. — The  Peasant  Farmers  and  their  Pov- 
erty.— Only  themselves  to  blame. — The  Ubiquity  of  the 
Potato. — Lack  of  great  Landowners. — No  Laws  regula- 
ting the  transmission  of  Property. — Norway  a  decidedly 
"  slow  "  Country. — The  People  not  anxious  to  make  the 
Traveller's  Work  easy. — No  heavy  Taxes  in  Norway. — 
A  tall,  hardy,  and  long-lived  Race. — Interior  of  the 
Houses. — Norwegian  and  Icelandic  Dress  compared. — 
Not  much  Respect  shown  to  the  Women. — Lack  of  Epi- 
curism and  Good  Living. — Description  of  their  Meals. — 
Badness  of  Table  Manners. — A  Nation  of  Knife-Swal- 
lowers. — Norway  a  Limited  Constitutional  Monarchy. — 
No  Nobility. — The  Norwegian  Parliament. — The  Power  of 
the  King. — Foreign  Trade. — Population. 97 

CHAPTER  XL 

A  Day  at  North  Cape. 

Northward  from  Hammerfest. — The  Midnight  Sun. — North 
Cape. — Views  therefrom. — The  Promontory  of  Knivsk- 
gaelodde. — Looking  out  toward  the  Pole. — Oppressive 
Feeling  of  Loneliness. — An  Enterprising  Photographer 
from  Berlin. — What  is  really  the  most  Northerly  Point  of 
Europe. — Competition  in  getting  nearest  to  the  Pole. — 
An  apropos  Quotation  from  Dr.  Watts. — Similarity  of 
North  Cape  to  Cape  Horn. — Professor  Nordenskiold  and 
the  Russian  Strategists. — Effect  of  the  Midnight  Sun  at 
North  Cape. — Numerous  Species  of  Fowl. — The  Most 
Northern  Surgeon  in  the  World. — How  Travellers  are 
Fleeced  in  the  Coasting-Steamers. — I  never  "  Double  on  my 
Track." — Imaginary  Obstacles  placed  in  my  Way 113 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
With  the  Lapps  :  By  the  Sea. 

PAGB 

The  Situation  of  Lapland. — Short  Summers  there. — The  Lapps 
as  described  in  1556. — Their  Low  Stature. — General 
Description  of  their  Personal  Appearance. — Their  Proba- 
ble Origin. — Signification  of  "  Esquimau." — Number  of 
Lapps. — How  they  are  distributed. — Sea-Lapps  in  Ham- 
merfest.  — I  stumble  upon  a  Party  made  up  of  this  Strange 
People. — Their  Characteristics. — Finkel. — Their  great  Ad- 
diction to  this  Burning  Drink. — My  Sentimental  Reflec- 
tions.— A  Lapponian  Wedding. — The  Wedding  Service. — 
No  Divorce  among  the  Lapps. — Polygamy  in  vogue. — 
Codfish  and  Seal-Blubber  for  Lunch. — Russian  Trading- 
Ships. — Endurance  of  the  Lapps. — Handsome  Lapps  few 
in  number. — Hideous  Treatment  of  Old  People 124 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

With  the  Lapps  :  On  the  Mountain. 

Maupertuis'  Account  of  the  Lapps. — An  Early  Call. — Food 
of  the  Mountain  Lapps. — Women  and  Children. — The 
Dogs. — Laziness  of  the  Lapps. — Occupation  of  the  Women 
and  Boys. — A  Party  at  Dinner  in  a  Reindeer  Tent. — 
Appearance  of  the  Interior  of  the  Tent. — A  Small  Diction- 
ary of  Lappish  Words. — The  Language  a  Finnish  Dia- 
lect.— Ignorance  of  the  People. — Specimen  of  a  Song. — 
Lappish  Mythology. — No  noteworthy  Progress  in  Civili- 
zation.— Work  of  the  Schoolmaster  and  the  Missionary. — 
General  estimate  of  Lapponian  Character. — What  Thom- 
son, the  Poet,  says  of  them. — Gradual  dying  out  of.  the 
Race. — A  People  without  a  Future 140 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Reindeer. 

Inspecting  the  Reindeer. — Dogs  like  Arctic  Foxes. — The  Way 
in  which  they  Work. — They  enjoy  the  Sport  of  getting 
the    Reindeer   into  a  Corral. — A  Herd  of  eight  hundred 


CONTENTS.  xvn 

PAGB 

Animals. — Description  of  their  Appearance. — Reindeer 
Milk. —  Resemblance  of  its  taste  to  Butter. — The  liberated 
Herd  mounting  the  steep  hills. — Wild  Deer  in  Northern 
Scandinavia,  Spitzbergen,  and  Nova  Zembla. — Use  of  the 
Reindeer  in  Travelling. — Reckoning  the  Wealth  of  the 
Laplander. — White  Lichen  or  Moss. — Pemmican. — The 
Cheese  made  from  Reindeer  Milk. — The  Rosy  Side  of 
Lapponian  Life 154 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Over  the  Kiolen  Fiellen. 

Ignorant  Norwegians. — A  Small  Maelstrom. — Rognan. — Singu- 
larity of  its  Appearance. — A  sorry  Supper. — Another  look 
at  an  Interior. — Pleasant  Encounter  with  an  English 
Sportsman. — Description  of  his  handsome  "  hut." — The 
luxuries  of  Civilization  in  that  out-of-the-way  spot. — The 
curt  Fashion  in  which  my  Guide  obtained  for  me  shelter 
for  the  Night. — I  go  to  bed  flanked  by  tallow-candles. — 
A  strange  Breakfast. — Junkersdalen. — Salvaagtind. — A 
seven-inch  Toilet. — Black  Bread,  old  Cheese,  and  sour 
Milk. — Appearance  of  the  Farm-houses. — The  Boats  em- 
ployed in  that  Region 164 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Among  the  Happy  Innocents. 

Jaggvik. — Going  to  Bed  under  Difficulties. — I  manage  to  ac- 
complish the  Task. — Boating  with  a  Beautiful  Swede. — 
Tracing  Characteristics  from  the  Bronze  Age  to  the 
Present. — Arjepluog. — Annoying  obtrusiveness  of  the  Peo- 
ple.— Leaving  behind  the  snow-covered  Mountains. — A 
Wonderful  Vehicle. — I  ride  upon  my  knees  for  half  a 
Day. — The  Church  at  Avidjaur. — The  Swedish  Post-sta- 
tions.— How  Children  are  kept  in  Safety. — Delay  in  get- 
ting Horses. — Another  singular  means  of  Conveyance. — 
Riding  upon  a  Tar-truck. — Rocknas. — Pitea. — Immense 
Quantity  of  Timber  there. — A  Hotel  near  the  Arctic  Cir- 
cle.— Wonderful  Relishes  before  Dinner. — From  Pitea  to 
Gefle 177 


XV111  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
An  Excursion  to  the  Copper  and  Iron  Mines. 

PAGE 

The  Copper  Mines  of  Dalecarlia. — Progress  of  Mining  Opera- 
tions.— Situation  of  Gene. — The  Iron  Foundry  at  Sand- 
viken. — Copper- roofs  covered  with  Verdigris. — The  "Great 
Copper  Mountain." — The  Descent  into  the  Mines. — 
Dalecarlia's  Two  great  River  Basins. — Ancient  Simplicity 
of  Manners  there. — Engelbrecht. — Dannemora. — The  Elf- 
karley  Cataracts. — The  Dannemora  Iron  Mines. — The  best 
time  to  visit  them. — Lack  of  the  necessary  Fuel. — Min- 
ing the  most  important  Department  of  Swedish  Industry. — 
The  Silver  Mine  at  Sala. — A  Mountain  of  Iron  named 
Gellivai-a. — Statistics  in  regard  to  Sweden's  chief  Mineral 
Industries 189 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

UPSALA   AND   LlNN/EUS. 

From  Orbyhus  to  Upsala. — Where  Odin,  Thor,  and  Frey  are 
Buried.— Old  Upsala.  — Olaus  Rudbeck. — A  Church  that 
Antedates  the  Christian  Era. — Upsala  anciently  the 
Metropolis  of  Sweden. — Chief  Attractions  of  the  Place. — 
The  University. — Dress  of  the  Students. — Priceless  Lit- 
erary treasures  in  Upsala. — The  Oldest  Monument  of  the 
Teutonic  Tongue. — The  Mora  Stones. — Their  Resem- 
blance to  those  of  Stonehenge. — Linnreus,  the  Pliny  of 
Sweden. — His  Residence. — Reverence  in  preserving  his 
Relics. — His  great  Vanity  Illustrated. — His  love  of  Eu- 
logy.— From  Upsala  to  Stockholm. — The  Palace  of  Skok- 
loster. — Sigtuna. — Its  History. — The  Palace  of  Rosen- 
borg    197 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Stockholm. 

Various  Venices. — Arrival  at  Stockholm. — Meaning  of  the 
Name.  — A  very  Picturesque  City. — Narrow  and  ill-paved 
Streets. — The  Riddarsholm  Kirke. — Remains  of  Gustavus 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

PAGE 

Adolphus. — The  National  Museum. — Magnificence  and 
Variety  of  its  Contents. — Relics  of  Charles  XII. — Molin's 
"  The  Wrestlers."— A  Brutal  Form  of  Duelling.— Bayard 
Taylor's  Norwegian  Pastoral. — Extensive  Libraries  in  Swe- 
den.— A  Latin  MS.  of  the  Gospels. — Interesting  Inscrip- 
tion.— The  Devil's  Bible. — A  MS.  written  on  three  hun- 
dred Asses'  hides. — Swedenborg's  house. — Strange  Experi- 
ences of  the  Seer. — Public  Recreation  in  Stockholm. — The 
Djurgarden. — Peculiar  Bathing  Customs. 206 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Gotha  Canal. 

Origin  of  the  Canal. — Its  Dimensions. — Admirably  adapted 
to  domestic  and  foreign  Trade. — Lake  Malar  and  its 
many  Islands — Lake  Wettern. — Trollhattan,  the  Home  of 
the  Water-Witches. — Seven  leaping  Torrents. — Gothen- 
burg.— Its  Population  and  Communication  with  other 
Cities. — Express  Trains  from  Gothenburg. — Comparison 
between  Sweden  and  Norway. — Points  of  Similitude  and 
Points  of  Difference. — Sweden  has  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Newspapers. — Her  superiority  to  Norway  in  that  re- 
spect.— Emigration  from  Norway  and  Sweden. — The  little 

Island  of  Bartholomew 221 

» 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Grand  Duchy  of  Finland. 

I  start  for  Helsingfors,  the  Capital  of  Finland. — The  Rocky 
Islands  on  the  Swedish  Coast. — Abo. — Its  old  Castles  and 
red  Houses. — Early  History  of  Finland. — Approach  to 
Helsingfors. — Its  Fine  Harbor. — It  looks  more  like  a  Rus- 
sian than  a  Swedish  Town. — The  Botanical  Garden  and 
surrounding  Views. — The  University. — Professor  Norden- 
skiold. — Prominent  Events  in  his  Career. — His  Latest 
Explorations. — Total  Expenses  of  the  Expedition. — The 
Northeast  passage  around  Europe  and  Asia  prophesied  by 
Mercator  three  centuries  ago. — From  Helsingfors  to  Wi- 
borg. — Excellent  Post-roads. — Peasant  Population  of  Fin- 
land.— Antiquity  of  the  Finnic  Race 230 


XX  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Kalevala,  the  Great  National  Epic. 

PAGE 

The  Finnish  National  Sagas. — Elias  Lonnrot. — Finland's 
Great  Poem,  the  Kalevala. — Max  Mtiller's  Opinion  of  it. — 
The  Iliad  of  Finland. — Wainaimoinen,  the  Finnish  Homer. 
— The  several  Translations  of  the  Kalevala. — Some  Speci- 
men Verses. — A  Song  entitled  "  The  Wooing". — Contrast 
with  "  Hiawatha". — Weekly  Finland  Newspapers. — The 
Drama,  Music,  Painting,  and  Sculpture  in  Finland. — The 
Falls  of  Imatra. — Lake  Saima. — The  Saima  Canal. — Great 
Expense  of  the  Structure. — The  Rapids  like  those  of 
Niagara  River  below  the  Suspension  Bridge. — Trout-fish- 
ing.— From  Wiborg  to  St.  Petersburg. — Farewell  to  the 
Reader 240 

Index 251 


/z         /y        /*.   {8 


h>      r\      2v       gt      u       ?&       h     _3y 3c 


NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

A  Sea-Girt  Kingdom. 

Having  left  Paris  by  the  afternoon  express,  the 
following  noon  you  arrive  in  Hamburg.  From  this 
great  bustling  city  of  northern  Germany,  three  routes 
lead  to  the  capital  of  Denmark.  The  railway  runs  to 
the  quaint  old  Hanseatic  town  of  Lubeck,  whence  you 
may  go  by  steamer  to  and  across  the  Baltic,  in  about 
sixteen  hours,  directly  to  Copenhagen.  Another  course 
permits  you  to  cover  nearly  the  entire  distance  by 
land  and  by  rail,  passing  northerly  through  the  old 
Danish  duchies  of  Holstein  and  Schleswig,  then  over  a 
narrow  belt  of  the  sea — a  mere  ferry  traversed  in  fifteen 
minutes, — to  and  through  the  island  of  Fyen,  and 
thence  by  steamer  in  an  hour-and-a-half,  to  Korsor,  a 
town  on  the  western  coast  of  Sealand,  and  so  on  to  the 
capital.  This  is  a  journey  of  twelve  hours.  The  re- 
maining communication  is  by  rail  to  Kiel,  thence  to 
Korsor  by  steamer,  and  then  by  rail  again  to  Copen- 
hagen, requiring  in  all  about  fourteen  hours. 


2  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

The  first  mentioned  route  offers  an  opportunity  tc 
the  traveller  of  visiting  Lubeck  with  its  decaying  walls, 
its  great  gates,  its  proud  towers,  its  spacious  squares, 
its  Gothic  churches  and  gabled  houses  of  red  and 
black  bricks,  and  its  general  mediaeval  aspect.  The 
voyage  by  sea,  however,  is  long  and  tedious.  The  sec- 
ond route  is  the  shortest  as  regards  time,  the  longest  as 
regards  distance.  But  the  objects  of  interest  are  too 
many  and  too  varied  to  be  seen  to  advantage  from  a 
car-window  ;  so  constant  a  demand  upon  one's  atten^ 
tion  makes  the  journey  tiresome  despite  the  shortness 
of  the  time.  The  route  which  I  have  mentioned  third 
in  order  is  preferable,  because  it  includes  some  glimpses 
of  Holstein  and  a  visit  to  the  powerful  naval  station  of 
Kiel  in  addition  to  the  rail  transit,  with  occasional 
stoppages,  in  the  beautiful  and  interesting  island  of 
Sealand. 

The  reader  is  of  course  aware  that  Hamburg  is  the 
third  grand  commercial  emporium  of  Europe,  the  first 
and  second  being  London  and  Liverpool.  It  is  also 
one  of  the  great  northern  ports  whence  so  many  Ger- 
mans leave  their  Fatherland  in  search  of  new  homes  in 
the  New  World.  An  interesting  fact  connected  with 
this  matter  of  German  emigration  has  recently  been 
made  public  by  the  Statistical  Bureau  at  Berlin.  The 
exodus  from  Hamburg  during  the  first  six  months  of 
the  year  1880  was  three  times  greater  than  in  1879, 
and  four  times  greater  than  in  1878  or  1877.  This  en- 
larged emigration  is  attributed  by  the  clerical  press  to 
religious  persecution  ;  the  radical  newspapers  say  it  is 


A    SEA-GIRT  KINGDOM.  3 

an  unavoidable  concomitant  of  political  reaction  ;  while 
the  socialist  journals  are  quite  certain  it  is  due  to  the 
pressure  of  increased  taxation  and  increased  cost  of 
living.  If  to  the  latter  explanation  is  added  the  ex- 
tremely low  scale  of  wages  now  prevailing  there,  we 
shall  probably  arrive  at  the  true  cause  of  such  an  unpre- 
cedented emigration  from  Germany. 

The  railway  from  Hamburg  to  Kiel  passes  through 
an  undulating  country  varied  by  pretty  lakes,  scanty 
forests,  turf-bogs  and  small  cultivated  tracts.  There 
are  few  villages  and,  with  but  two  exceptions,  these 
are  very  small.  Kiel,  which  is  situated  at  the  head  of 
a  long  narrow  bay  of  like  name,  possesses  the  finest 
anchorage  and  the  best  winter  harbor  in  the  Baltic. 
The  water  is  so  deep  that  the  largest  man-of-war  may 
approach  without  danger  close  to  the  shore.  On  these 
accounts  the  Germans  have  selected  it  as  the  chief 
station  for  their  navy,  and  are  erecting  such  invulner- 
able fortifications  that  it  will  soon  merit  the  title  of  the 
Sevastopol  of  the  Baltic.  On  the  east  bank  of  the 
harbor  are  extensive  dockyards,  which  may  be  viewed 
upon  application  at  the  marine-office.  The  Germans 
have  also  established  here  a  capital  training-school  for 
the  education  of  youths  who  are  intended  for  service 
in  the  navy.  Kiel  itself  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in 
Holstein.  Its  present  population  is  38,000,  which  enu- 
meration includes  a  large  garrison.  Beautiful  walks 
and  drives  abound  in  the  environs. 

In  about  an  hour  after  leaving  Kiel  our  little  packet 
steams  out  into  the  Baltic,  gliding  between  formidable 


4  NOR  SIC,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

batteries  and  fortresses  on  each  side  of  the  entrance 
of  the  fiord.  We  are  soon  out  of  sight  of  land  and  in 
a  few  hours  more  obtain  our  first  view  of  Denmark, — 
the  fertile  and  wooded  island  called  Langeland.  This 
contains  three  or  four  little  towns,  one  of  which  is  dis- 
tinguished as  being  the  birthplace  of  CErsted,  the  dis- 
coverer of  electro-magnetism  and  one  of  the  greatest 
physicists  of  modern  times.  We  pass  between  this 
island  and  the  larger  one  of  Fyen  on  the  left,  and  then 
cross  an  arm  of  the  sea,  called  the  Great  Belt,  to  Kor- 
sor  and  Sealand. 

The  islands  of  Denmark  are  so  crowded  together  as 
almost  to  close  the  entrance  to  the  Baltic.  Their  sur- 
face is  uniformly  low  ;  in  this  respect  indeed  they  are 
surpassed  by  but  one  country  in  Europe,  namely  Hol- 
land. The  highest  point  in  Denmark  is  only  550  feet 
above  the  sea-level.  Owing  to  these  facts  of  position 
and  surface,  it  is  subject,  especially  during  the  summer 
months,  to  storms  of  wind  and  rain.  The  winters  are 
sometimes  severe,  though  the  climate  might  be  regarded 
on  the  whole  as  temperate.  The  scenery  is  of  a  quiet 
and  monotonous  character,  which  charms  by  its  grace, 
but  lacks  power  to  inspire.  The  surface,  which  is  gen- 
erally fertile,  is  covered  with  meadows,  cornfields,  and 
forests  of  beech.  The  largest  province  of  Denmark, 
however,  the  peninsula  of  Jutland,  is  for  the  most  part 
sandy  and  barren.  More  than  half  the  country  is  cul- 
tivated or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  is  either  in  grass, 
or  lying  fallow,  or  holds  crops  ripening  for  the  harvest. 
More  than  2,500,000  acres  are  said  to  form  a  permanent 


A    SEA-GIRT  KINGDOM.  5 

pasturage,  and  therefore,  as  might  be  expected,  the  work 
of  the  dairy  forms  a  very  extensive  branch  of  industry. 
The  name  Denmark  is  supposed  to  have  been  de- 
rived from  the  ancient  Teutonic  words  dane  or  thane,  a 
prince  or  lord,  and  mark,  a  frontier  country,  thus  cor- 
responding in  some   degree  to   the  German  markgraf- 
schaft,  a  frontier  country  confided  to  the  protection  of 
an   earl.     This  may  be  the  correct  etymology  of  the 
word,  for  though  Denmark  has  been   an   independent 
kingdom  more    than   a  thousand  years,  it  was  at  one 
time  subject  to  the  dominion  of  the  Goths.    The  people 
were  then  divided  into  two  classes,  freemen  and  bonds- 
men.    The  former  busied  themselves  chiefly  with  war 
and  piracy  ;  while   to  the  latter  were  left  the  peaceful 
pursuits  of  hunting,  fishing,  and  tilling  the  soil.     At  the 
present  day  the  land  is  greatly  subdivided,  this   being 
encouraged  by  a  law  which  interdicts  the  union  of  small 
farms  into  large  estates.     About  one-third  of  the  nation 
now  live  by  agriculture.     The  island  of  Sealand  has  a 
population  of  over   700,000;  while  that  of  the  entire 
kingdom  of  Denmark  is  nearly  2,000,000.     Emigration 
averaging  3,000  persons  annually,  is  considered  at  pres- 
ent  rather  slight,  and  is  made  chiefly  to   the  United 
States. 

The  first  town  of  any  importance  after  leaving  Kor- 
sor  is  Soro,  situated  on  a  lake  surrounded  by  beech  and 
pine  woods.  At  a  village  near  here  a  remarkable  round 
church  nearly  eight  hundred  years  old  is  to  be  seen. 
Its  interior  diameter  is  only  thirty-four  feet,  and  even 
of  this  small  space  a  considerable  part  is  taken  up  by 


6  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

four  columns  with  bases  of  granite,  each  twelve  feet  in 
circumference  and  twenty-four  feet  high,  supporting  the 
roof,  which  at  first  was  probably  conical.  This  church 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  monuments 
of  ancient  Christian  architecture  in  Denmark.  At  the 
time  of  the  planting  of  Christianity  there  its  peculiar 
structure  made  it  extremely  useful  as  a  fortified  tower. 

The  next  station,  Ringsted,  offering  nothing  worthy 
of  attention,  it  is  well  to  proceed  to  Roeskilde,  whose 
sights  are  entitled  to  at  least  a  day's  inspection. 
This  town,  which  is  situated  at  the  head  of  a  long 
and  narrow  fiord,  has  5,000  inhabitants.  It  is  the 
second  in  point  of  population  upon  the  island  of 
Sealand,  where  there  is  but  a  single  town  of  any 
very  great  importance,  namely  Copenhagen.  The 
second  city  of  Denmark  is  Odense,  on  the  neighbor- 
ing island  of  Fyen,  with  15,000  inhabitants.  Roeskilde 
was  the  capital  of  Denmark  down  to  1448  and  once 
contained  a  population  of  100,000.  It  was  the  resi- 
dence of  the  bishop  of  Sealand  until  the  Reformation, 
but  since  that  epoch  has  fallen  into  decay,  until  now 
the  sole  relic  of  its  ancient  glory  is  the  cathedral 
where  repose  the  Danish  kings  from  Harold  to 
Frederick  VII.  The  architectural  merits  of  this  dio- 
cesan church  are  not  great.  Notwithstanding  that  it 
is  built  of  brick  it  has  suffered  considerably  from  fire, 
and  in  the  various  renewals.  Its  size  has  gradually 
been  increased  from  century  to  century.  One  sees  now 
pointed  arches  and  round  arches  in  juxtaposition  ; 
ancient    towers    and    modern    spires  ;    an   Elizabethan 


A    SEA-GIRT  KINGDOM.  J 

door  and  chapels  of  different  styles.  For  some  years, 
however,  a  thoroughly  scientific  and  careful  restora- 
tion has  been  in  progress  and  in  time  this  old  cathedral 
may  cease  to  shock  the  traveller  by  its  conflicting 
anachronisms.  The  archbishop  of  the  kingdom  resides 
in  Copenhagen. 

Complete  religious  toleration  obtains  in  Denmark. 
The  state  church  is  the  Evangelical  Lutheran.  This 
also  is  the  established  religion  of  the  other  Scandi- 
navian countries,  as  well  as  of  Finland,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  latter  is  a  grand  duchy  of  an  empire 
which  reckons  50,000,000  Greek  Christians  among  its 
subjects.  It  is  enacted  by  an  article  of  the  Danish 
constitution  that  "all  citizens  may  worship  God  ac- 
cording to  their  own  fashion,  provided  they  do  not 
offend  morality  or  public  order."  No  one  can  be 
deprived  of  his  civil  and  political  rights  on  the  score 
of  his  religion,  nor  be  exempted  on  that  account  from 
his  duties  as  a  citizen.  Certificates  of  baptism  and 
confirmation — and  for  the  matter  of  that,  of  vaccina- 
tion, too — are  indispensable  before  entering  into  ser- 
vice, apprenticeship,  or  matrimony.  Ninety-nine  per 
cent  of  the  population  belong  (nominally  at  least)  to 
the  Lutheran  Church.  For  a  long  time  the  Mormons 
seemed  to  be  making  a  special  raid  upon  the  Danish 
peasantry,  but  the  emigration  to  Salt  Lake  City,  I  am 
pleased  to  be  able  to  assert,  is  now  but  small.  In 
Norway  Mormonism  is  forbidden  by  the  government, 
and  no  adherents  to  that  creed  and  church  are  per- 
mitted to  remain  in  the  country. 


8  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

From  Roeskilde  a  short  carriage  excursion  should 
by  all  means  be  made  to  the  little  village  of  Om,  where 
a  fine  dolmen  or  burial  grotto  is  to  be  seen.  Through 
a  passage  twenty-two  feet  in  length,  formed  by  enor- 
mous stone  slabs,  I  entered  a  sepulchral  chamber 
twenty-two  feet  long,  six  feet  high,  and  eighteen  feet 
wide.  The  farmer  who  was  my  guide  said  that  when 
this  was  opened,  fifty  years  ago,  it  was  found  to  contain 
a  number  of  skeletons  and  arms.  All  parts  of  the 
island  of  Sealand  abound  in  these  and  similar  vestiges 
of  antiquity.  North  of  Roeskilde,  near  a  little  town 
called  Fredericksvaerk,  there  is  a  great  kjokken-mod- 
ding,  kitchen-midden  or  refuse-heap,  in  which  relics 
of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  have  been  found.  The 
place  is  of  such  importance  and  interest  as  to  have 
been  visited  by  the  International  Archaeological  Con- 
gress, which  was  held  in  Copenhagen,  in  1879.  The 
whole  neighborhood  is  rich  in  these  dolmens,  as  well  as 
in  barrows,  tumuli,  and  raised  stones  with  Runic  in- 
scriptions. 

Denmark  is  especially  the  land  of  antiquities.  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  in  his  work  on  "  Prehistoric  Times," 
maintains  that  the  antiquity  of  Scandinavia  is  its  most 
splendid  period,  and  is  calculated  to  awaken  even  now 
the  greatest  interest.  The  monuments  raised  in  pre- 
historic and  earliest  historic  time  of  Denmark  are  very 
numerous.  Under  the  thick  layer  of  marsh-clay,  peat- 
bogs, and  remains  of  ancient  forests,  discoveries  have 
been  made  of  implements  of  flint,  pottery,  and  other 
relics  of  human  civilization.     The  study  of  these  an- 


A    SEA-GIRT  KINGDOM.  9 

tiquities  has  long  been  fashionable  in  Copenhagen.  A 
society  for  the  "  preservation  of  antiquities  "  cares  for 
those  monuments  which  belong  to  the  kingdom  and 
a  Royal  Commission  encourages,  financially  and  in 
other  ways,  further  explorations  and  disinterments. 

There  are  also  societies  of  a  similar  character  in 
Germany,  Norway,  and  Sweden.  In  their  widespread 
enthusiasm  for  antiquarian  science,  the  Germans  are 
nobly  led  by  their  grand  old  emperor,  who  has  lately 
defrayed  from  his  own  private  purse  the  expenses  of 
the  excavations  at  Olympia,  in  Greece.  Only  a  few 
months  since  some  German  archaeologists  found  in  what 
was  a  former  province  of  Denmark  (Schleswig-Holstein), 
a  great  lot  of  antique  armor,  huge  and  uncouth  weap- 
>ns  of  war,  and  mighty  carved  drinking  horns.  In 
Christiania,  among  many  institutions  for  the  promotion 
of  science,  art,  and  industry,  an  association  flourishes 
for  the  preservation  of  Norwegian  antiquities.  This 
society  was  established  nearly  forty  years  ago  with  the 
avowed  object  of  examining,  preserving,  and  discover- 
ing Norwegian  antiquities,  and  making  them  known  to 
the  world  through  the  medium  of  pictorial  representa- 
tion and  detailed  accounts.  Some  members  of  this 
organization  have  recently  made  an  archaeological  dis- 
covery of  great  import.  In  a  mound  on  the  shore  of  a 
bay  named  Sande  fiord,  on  the  southern  coast,  about 
twenty  miles  west  of  Christiania  fiord,  excavations 
have  brought  to  light  a  boat  some  seventy  feet  in 
length.  This  is  believed  to  be  one  of  the  fierce  Vik- 
ings' ships,  which  were  used  for  piratical  expeditions 


IO  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

upon    the  coasts   of   Britain   and   France,   a  thousand 
years  ago. 

A  letter  recently  received  from  Norway,  gives  an 
interesting  account  of  a  visit  to  this  venerable  relic  of 
the  seas  :  "  We  reached  Sande  fiord  at  half-past  one 
and  drove  immediately  to  the  mound.  All  over  Nor- 
way there  are  mounds  which  are  known  to  be  burial 
places.  Now  and  then  one  is  opened  and  the  contents 
are  always  interesting,  but  it  costs  a  great  deal,  so  that 
it  is  only  very  gradually  that  these  tombs  are  being 
investigated.  This  one  is  opened  by  the  university  at 
Christiania.  When  a  famous  chieftain  died,  it  was  the 
custom  to  build  a  burial  chamber  in  his  ship,  and  to 
bury  with  him  his  horses  and  dogs,  the  harness,  gold 
and  silver  ornaments,  etc.  Then  the  ship  was  dragged .,» 
up  some  distance  on  the  shore,  surrounded  with  moss, 
and  buried  in  clay  piled  up  over  it.  In  the  mound  we 
saw  there  were  found  the  ship,  about  seventy  feet  long 
(larger  than  any  hitherto  found),  and  the  bones  of  a 
man,  of  three  horses,  and  of  several  dogs.  It  was  un- 
doubtedly placed  there  in  the  ninth  century,  and  after 
a  thousand  years  of  darkness  has  come  to  the  light 
once  more  ;  but  not  for  the  first  time.  There  are  signs 
of  its  having  been  opened  and  rifled  of  the  gold  and 
silver  ornaments  which  ought  to  have  been  found  and 
are  not.  But  that  was  probably  not  long  after  it  was 
first  placed  there. 

"  In  spite  of  the  years  that  it  has  lain  buried,  there 
are  traces  of  paint  on  the  outside,  and  its  ornamentation 
convinces  the  antiquaries   that  some  Viking  of   great 


A    SEA-GIRT  KINGDOM.  II 

importance  had  his  last  resting-place  here.  The  nails 
with  which  the  timbers  are  fastened  show  that  it  be- 
longed to  what  is  called  the  first  iron  age.  It  was  curious 
to  see  how  some  of  the  parts  were  dovetailed  into  each 
other  in  just  the  same  way  as  they  would  be  done  to- 
day. The  ship  is  supposed  to  have  carried  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  men,  as  that  number  of  shields  were 
found  hanging  within  the  bulwarks,  forming  a  defense 
to  the  men  who  rowed  beneath.  The  prow  was  very 
sharp,  and  must  have  cut  the  water  beautifully,  urged 
on  by  so  many  rowers,  and  also  by  the  wind  in  its  large 
sail,  which  was  of  woolen  material.  Round  the  hero's 
bones  were  found  the  remains  of  a  silk  mantle  which 
may  have  been  brought  from  the  farthest  east.  The 
rudder,  a  huge  oar-shaped  thing,  was  fastened  to  the 
vessel's  side.  Most  of  the  articles  found  within  the 
ship  have  been  carefully  removed  and  placed  in  the 
museum  connected  with  the  university.  The  ship  is 
not  yet  wholly  excavated.  If  possible  to  remove  it, 
it  will  be  taken  to  Christiania." 

From  Roeskilde  to  Copenhagen,  about  seventy 
miles,  the  railway  passes  through  a  fertile  and  well-cul- 
tivated country.  When  the  traveller  approaches  the 
capital  he  sees  upon  the  right,  the  gardens  and  palace 
of  Fredericksburg;  *and  upon  the  left,  long  rows  of 
workmen's  houses  and  the  general  cemetery.  Then  the 
train  enters  the  thickly-built  suburbs,  and  after  cross- 
ing a  long  and  narrow  belt  of  lakes,  halts  at  last  in  a 
large  and  splendid  station.  The  stranger  jumps  into  a 
droschky  and  is  whirled  across  a  bridge,  through  some 


12  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

old  fortifications,  and  along  narrow  and  rough  streets, 
until  he  reaches  the  Hotel  d'Ajigleterre,  a  commodious 
and  comfortable  house  situated  on  the  Kongens  Nytorv, 
the  largest  and  handsomest  square  of  the  metropolis. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Merchant's  Haven. 

It  is  difficult,  perhaps  impossible,  for  a  writer  so  to 
portray  the  general  appearance  and  architectural  char- 
acteristics of  a  large  city,  that  they  may  afterwards  be 
recognized  by  any  one  who  visits  it  for  the  first  time. 
The  picture  may  therefore  be  thought  nothing  worth, 
when  I  say  that  standing,  on  a  bright  morning  late  in 
the  June  of  1878,  on  the  summit  of  a  lofty  round  tower 
in  the  heart  of  Copenhagen,  I  saw  stretched  below 
me  a  bewildering  mass  of  red-tiled  roofs,  with  pigeon- 
hole windows  and  brown  chimney  pots  ;  an  occasional 
bronze-plated  steeple  keeping  watch,  as  it  were,  over  a 
small  green  park,  or  broad  paved  avenue  ;  a  handsome 
distribution,  as  if  at  random,  of  universities,  museums, 
hospitals,  observatories,  citadels,  casinos,  palaces,  and 
custom-houses  ;  dark  woods  and  richly  cultivated  fields 
which  presented  the  mediaeval  windmill  in  contrast  to 
the  modernism  of  the  railroad  ;  groups  of  fresh-water 
lakes,  harbors  filled  with  merchant  ships  and  steamers  ; 
and  finally  the  broad  expanse  of  the  azure  sea,  with  a 
low  range  of  coast  line  losing  itself  by  imperceptible 
gradations  upon  the  dim  horizon. 

The  word  Copenhagen  is  simply  an  anglicising  of 


14  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN 

the  Danish  Kjobenhavn,  signifying  the  "  merchant's 
haven,"  and  doubtless  this  city  has  been  so  named  on 
account  of  the  perfect  security  its  harbor  offers  for 
trading  vessels.  It  is  built  upon  the  eastern  and  west- 
ern coasts  respectively  of  the  islands  of  Sealand  and 
Amager,  a  narrow  arm  of  the  sea  which  separates  them 
forming  its  harbor.  The  situation  is  so  low  that  a 
proper  system  of  drainage  has  been  almost  impossible, 
and  I  was  not  surprised  to  learn  that  the  plague  and  the 
cholera  had  been  frequent  guests.  The  harbor  is  not 
only  safe  but  capacious,  and  is  generally  filled  with 
vessels  engaged  in  loading  the  chief  exports  of  the 
country,  such  as  corn,  cattle,  and  dairy  produce.  Ship- 
building is  in  constant  progress,  and  steamers  of  all 
sizes  continually  come  and  go.  Indeed,  there  is 
scarcely  a  seaport  in  Denmark  between  which  and  the 
capital  communication  is  not  facile  and  frequent.  To- 
ward the  sea  Copenhagen  exhibits  a  long  line  of  batter- 
ies and  arsenals,  docks,  warehouses,  and  timber-yards. 
Approaching  it  from  the  west,  one  must  traverse  the 
straggling  and  lake-severed  suburbs  already  mentioned. 
Copenhagen  would  hardly  be  called  a  beautiful  city. 
The  general  quaintness  of  its  architecture,  the  numer- 
ous canals  penetrating  to  its  very  centre,  and  the  varied 
and  picturesque  spectacle  offered  by  its  markets, 
wharves,  and  streets  give  it  somewhat  the  appearance  of 
Amsterdam.  The  modern  buildings,  however,  interfere 
with  this  effect  and  the  boulevards,  suggesting  Paris, 
are  rapidly  taking  the  place  of  the  old  fortifications, 
which  are  being  destroyed  as  past  the  age. 


THE  MERCHANTS  HA  VEN.  1 5 

The  city  is  not  laid  out  at  right  angles,  and  though 
the  streets  are  generally  narrow  and  winding,  they  are 
for  the  most  part  kept  scrupulously  clean.  Horse-cars 
and  omnibuses  run  in  every  direction.  Droschkies  are 
numerous  and  a  capital  law  for  the  comfort  of  the 
traveller  forbids  their  drivers  demanding  a  "  pour- 
boire."  Most  of  the  stores  are  raised  four  or  five  steps 
from  the  sidewalk,  which  gives  room  for  high  basements 
beneath  them,  and  has  the  additional  advantage  of 
placing  their  show-windows  on  a  level  with  the  eyes  of 
the  passer-by.  It  is  an  economical  arrangement  calcu- 
lated to  save  rent  for  the  seller  and  time  and  strength 
for  the  buyer.  The  large  proportion  of  bookstores  is 
noticeable.  In  the  windows  of  the  photographers,  who 
largely  abound,  one  is  sure  always  to  see  displayed  the 
pleasant  face  of  Hans  Christian  Andersen,  the  genial 
author  of  the  "  Fairy  Tales,"  and  that  of  Thorwaldsen, 
Denmark's  special  pride,  with  pictures  of  his  numerous 
famous  sculptures.  Danish  specialties  are  the  manu- 
facture of  articles  in  biscuit-china  and  terra-cotta. 
Their  watches  also  are  of  rare  excellence  ;  those  of 
Jules  Jurgensen,  whose  establishment  I  visited,  having 
a  world-wide  celebrity.  English  is  spoken  in  all  the 
principal  shops  and  hotels.  Danish,  however,  is  not  a 
difficult  tongue  for  English-speaking  people  to  acquire 
owing  to  its  peculiar  affinity  with  their  own  language. 
The  first-class  hotels,  cafes,  and  restaurants  seemed  to 
me  quite  equal  to  any  others  in  Europe.  The  present 
population  of  Copenhagen  is  given  at  250,000. 

In  the    personal   appearance   of   the    Danes — their 


1 6  N  OH  SIC,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

yellowish  hair,  blue  eyes,  and  square  shoulders — and 
in  their  language,  I  was  continually  reminded  of  the 
Hanoverians.  But  in  their  fashions,  their  houses,  and 
habits,  they  recalled  to  me  the  French  rather  than  the 
Germans.  Hospitality  and  affability  appear  to  pervade 
all  classes.  They  are  very  fond  of  the  theatre,  of 
dancing,  and  of  playing  at  cards.  Their  gayety  is 
quite  surprising.  They  possess  nothing  of  the  stolidity 
of  the  Dutch  or  the  reserve  and  severity  of  the  Nor- 
wegians. They  are  fond  of  show  and  their  nobility 
and  the  little  court  encourage  this  "  small  vice  "  as  far 
as  possible.  Clubs  abound,  and  it  is  customary  for  a 
citizen  to  largely  entertain  his  male  guests  at  these, 
thus  avoiding  the  expense  and  discomfort  of  home 
hospitalities. 

The  Danes  are  a  refined  and  amiable  people,  car- 
rying their  politeness  in  some  respects  to  an  extreme. 
So  frequently  do  the  gentlemen  bow  to  each  other  in  the 
street  that  their  hats  seem  to  be  more  in  their  hands 
than  on  their  heads.  It  is  considered  the  greatest 
breach  of  decorum  to  enter  even  the  smallest  shop  with- 
out removing  the  hat.  In  this  respect  they  follow  the 
custom  of  the  Parisians  and  Viennese.  Even  porters 
and  hucksters  salute  one  another  with  profound  gravity. 
No  place  is  deemed  too  public  for  such  domestic 
pledges  and  confidences  as  we  are  accustomed  to  con- 
fine most  scrupulously  to  our  family  circles.  Worse 
than  this,  the  men  there  actually  usurp  the  time-hal- 
lowed privileges  of  the  women  in  matters  of  osculation  ; 
for  they  hug  and  kiss  each  other  on  parting  for  a  long 


THE  MERCHANTS  HAVEN.  \J 

absence  or  upon  meeting  afterwards,  while  the  women, 
poor  things,  can  only  look  sadly  on  at  such  times,  tak- 
ing no  part  in  the  conventional  ceremonies  through 
which  Danish  friendship  and  affection  thus  warmly  ex- 
press themselves.  In  Iceland,  Denmark's  best-known 
colony,  the  national  salutation  of  welcome  and  farewell, 
is  a  kiss.  But  does  not  every  country  have  its  peculiai 
customs  ? 

Elementary  education  is  in  Denmark  widely  dif- 
fused. It  is  rarely  that  you  meet  a  person  who  cannot 
both  read  and  write.  This  is  doubtless  owing  to  the 
fact  that  attendance  at  school  is  obligatory  between  the 
ages  of  seven  and  fourteen.  In  conformity  with  an  arti- 
cle of  the  constitution,  education  is  afforded  gratui- 
tously in  the  public  schools  to  children  whose  parents 
cannot  afford  to  pay  for  their  teaching.  With  this  sen- 
sible object  in  view  nearly  three  thousand  parochial 
schools  are  distributed  over  the  kingdom.  For  the 
higher  or  classical  training  there  is  the  University  of 
Copenhagen  and  colleges  in  the  principal  towns,  together 
with  a  large  number  of  middle-schools  for  the  children 
of  the  working  classes. 

With  respect  to  institutions  connected  with  educa- 
tion, science,  and  art,  and  especially  those  devoted  to 
charitable  purposes,  Copenhagen  ranks  second  to  few,  if 
any  other  cities  in  Europe.  The  University  buildings 
occupy  nearly  the  whole  of  a  large  square.  Its  library 
numbers  some  250,000  volumes  and  its  zoological  mu- 
seum is  very  rich  and  most  admirably  arranged.  There 
are  about  fifty  professors  in  the  faculty,  with  an  average 


1 8  NOXSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

attendance  of  a  thousand  students,  about  half  of  whom 
pursue  theological    subjects.     The    Astronomical    Ob- 
servatory contains  one  of  the  largest  refracting   tele- 
scopes  in    Europe.       The    Meteorological    Institution 
publishes  a  daily  weather  map,    and  is  in  telegraphic 
communication  with  some  twenty  or  more  foreign  sta- 
tions.    The  Royal  Library  was  founded  about  two  hun- 
dred  years  ago.       It   contains  at  present  over   half  a 
million    volumes,    with    thirty    thousand  MSS.,  among 
which  are  some  very  scarce  and  valuable  Scandinavian 
specimens.      The   publishers  throughout  the  kingdom 
are  obliged  to  send  to  this  library,  and  also  to  that  of 
the  University,  copies  of  all  the  books  and  periodicals 
published  by  them  throughout    the   year.      The    first 
printing-press    was    set   up    in    Copenhagen    in    1490, 
eleven  years  after  the  University  had  been  founded,  and 
forty  years  after  Gutenberg,  at  Mayence,  had  printed 
the  quarto  black-letter  Bible  now  so  exceedingly  rare 
and  precious.     The  first  book  published  was  a  history 
of  Denmark  in  rhymed  verse.    At  present  no  censor- 
ship of  the  press  exists,  though  of  course  authors  and 
editors  are  subject  to  punishment  for  libelous,  seditious, 
or  morally  pernicious  publications,  as  in  other  countries 
where  there  is  equal  literary  liberty. 

Copenhagen  contains  a  number  of  societies,  the 
objects  of  which  are  sufficiently  indicated  by  their 
names :  such  as  the  society  for  promoting  Danish  Lit- 
erature, that  for  propagating  the  natural  sciences,  the 
geographical  and  agricultural  societies,  the  Academy 
of  Arts,  etc.     What  is  called  the  Royal  Picture  Gallery 


THE  MERCHANT'S  HAVEN.  19 

occupies  the  greater  part  of  the  upper  story  of  an  old 
palace.     This  collection  consists  of  about  a  thousand 
paintings— Italian,    Flemish,    Dutch,    and    Danish.     I 
could  speak  of  the  general  high  character  of  the  latter, 
were  it    necessary  at   the  present    day    to   praise   such 
artists  as  Marstrand,   Exner,  Hansen  or  Sonne,  all  of 
whom  had  works  at  the  great  Paris  Exhibition  of  1878. 
Although  Copenhagen  possesses  very  many  churches, 
two  only  are  of  special  interest   to  the  stranger — Vor 
Frue    Kirke    and    Vor    Frelser's    Kirke.     The    former 
(Our  Lady's  Church)    derives  its  chief   renown  from 
the  scnrptrrres  of  Thorwaldsen,  by  which  it  is  decora- 
ted.    In   the   tympanum   of  the    Doric    portico    is  his 
group  representing  John  the  Baptist  preaching  in  the 
wilderness.     Immediately  upon    entering  the    church, 
which  is  in  the  form  of  a  Roman  basilica,  you  see  the 
splendid  figure  of  Christ,  and  on  each  side  of  the  nave 
the   apostles,     The  frieze  in    the   apse    represents  the 
procession  to  Golgotha.     Over  the  entrance  to  the  con- 
fessionals are  two  exquisite  bassi-relievi,  representing 
the  Institution  of  the  Sacraments.     Vor  Frelser's  Kirke 
(Church  of  Our  Redeemer),  which  is  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  harbor,  on  the  island  of  Amager,  is  quite  an 
architectural  curiosity.     It  has  a  very  peculiar  tower, 
nearly  three  hundred  feet  in  height,  on  the  outside  of 
which  a  spiral  staircase  leads  to  the  summit,  where  is 
a  bronze  ball  capable  of  containing  a  dozen  persons. 
Any  one  with  a  strong  head  who  cared  to  mount  three 
hundred  and  ninety- three  steps,  would  be  rewarded  by 
a   magnificent   view   of    the    Sound    and    surrounding 


20  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

coasts.  This  church  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  Maltese 
cross,  two  arms  of  which  contain  three  tiers  of  boxes 
or  enclosed  pews,  another  holds  the  altar  and  a  beauti- 
ful alabaster  font,  and  in  the  remaining  arm  is  a  large 
organ  in  a  splendid  carved  case  which  rests  upon  two 
enormous  elephants.  The  latter  are  made  of  stucco 
and  colored  true  to  life. 

I  ought  to  mention  here  another  curious  spire 
which  Copenhagen  displays.  It  is  that  of  the  Ex- 
change, a  long  narrow  brick  building  grotesquely  orna- 
mented with  gray  sandstone  in  the  Dutch  renaissance 
style.  From  the  centre  rises,  to  the  height  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet,  a  steeple  which  is  formed  of  the  en- 
twined tails  of  four  dragons,  whose  bodies  and  heads, 
forming  the  base  of  the  spire,  are  turned  to  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe.  The  architecture  strongly  re- 
minded me  of  that  of  some  portions  of  India. 

The  citizens  of  Copenhagen  resemble  the  Viennese 
and  Parisians,  not  only  in  the  politeness  of  their  man- 
ners, but  also  in  their  theatres,  casinos,  public  balls, 
and  parks  and  promenades.  But  the  most  popular 
resort  of  all  is  what  is  called  the  Summer  Tivoli. 
This  is  a  huge  garden  somewhat  after  the  style  of  Cre- 
morne  in  London,  though  frequented  by  much  better 
company.  It  contains  beautiful  lakes,  flower-beds,  a 
labyrinth,  a  circus,  a  bazaar,  an  open-air  theatre,  a 
concert-hall  with  an  orchestra  of  forty  instruments,  a 
panorama,  a  whirligig,  and  countless  numbers  of  restau- 
rants and  beer-counters.  Every  few  nights  when  these 
gardens  are  illuminated  by  thousands  of  colored  lights 


THE  MERCHANTS  HAVEN.  21 

and  fireworks,  six  or  eight  thousand  people  meet  and 
mix  together  there  on  the  most  friendly  terms.  On 
such  occasions  the  quantity  of  bad  tobacco  smoked 
and  of  good  beer  drunk  is  something  almost  beyond 
conception.  At  any  rate  the  sight  is  one  not  to  be 
matched  in  any  other  capital  in  Europe.  The  general 
free-and-easy  style  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the 
king  and  members  of  the  royal  family  are  frequently 
to  be  seen  there  strolling  about  with  the  most  demo- 
cratic air. 

Should  you  inquire  of  a  Dane  what  was  best  worth 
seeing  in  Copenhagen  he  would  doubtless  immediately 
direct  you  to  Thonvaldsen's  Museum.  The  name  of 
this  famous  sculptor  is  mentioned  everywhere  in  Den- 
mark with  the  highest  respect  and  veneration.  Prob- 
ably nowhere  else  in  the  world  is  there  a  museum  de- 
voted to  the  products  of  a  single  artist.  Thorwaldsen, 
it  may  not  be  remembered  by  all  my  readers,  was  born 
in  1770  at  Copenhagen.  He  was  the  son  of  a  ship- 
carpenter  from  Iceland.  At  an  early  age  he  went  to 
Rome  and  studied  under  the  great  Canova.  It  was 
Ions;  before  his  fame  was  established,  but  from  that  time 
until  the  close  of  his  life,  at  seventy-two  years  of  age, 
he  basked  in  the  sunshine  of  utmost  prosperity.  Most 
of  his  life  was  passed  in  Rome,  and  here  it  was  he  in- 
augurated a  true  revival  of  the  masculine  spirit  of  the 
ancients.  Canova  at  once  pronounced  his  Jason  to  be 
"a  work  in  a  new  and  grand  style."  Thorwaldsen 
only  returned  permanently  to  Copenhagen  six  years 
before  his   death,  which  occurred  suddenly  in  March, 


22  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

1842.     The  museum  is  erected  in  the  style  of  the  Pom- 
peian  and  Etruscan  tombs.     Over  the  pediment  of  the 
facade   stands  a  bronze  Victory  reining  in  her  quad 
riga.      This   sculpture  is  similar   to  the    goddess   en- 
throned above  the  Brandenberg  gate  at  the  end  of  tht 
Linden,  in  Berlin.     It  was   designed  by  Thorwaldsen 
and  was  executed  by  his  favorite  pupil  Bissen.     The 
remaining   sides  of   the   building  are  adorned   with   a 
series  of  scenes  in  fresco — red,  brown,  and  yellow  colors 
upon  a  background  of  black — representing  the  recep- 
tion of  the  illustrious  sculptor  and  his  works  at  Copen- 
hagen on  his  return  from  a  residence  of  eighteen  years 
in    Rome.       This   imposing  structure,  which   contains 
some  three  hundred  pieces  of  his   statuary — partly  in 
the   original  and  partly  in   casts — is  at  the  same  time 
his  mausoleum,  for  he  lies  buried  in  the  centre  of  the 
court  under  a  canopy  of  ivy.     His  works  stand  in  mute 
and  marble  admiration  as  though  worshipping  their  dead 
lord.     Upon  his   return  from  Rome  Thorwaldsen  was 
hailed  by  the  Danes  as  the  greatest  master  of  modern 
sculpture — a  proud  title  which  none  since  have  success- 
fully contested. 

The  principal  royal  residence,  Amalienborg,  is  situ- 
ated in  the  northern  and  aristocratic  quarter  of  the  city. 
Here  a  large  circle  has  been  opened  at  the  intersection 
of  two  streets  upon  whose  four  corners  stand  palaces 
which  were  originally  built  by  rich  noblemen  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  past  century.  In  the  middle  of  the 
open  space  inclosed  by  these  edifices,  which  are  plain 
stuccoed  affairs  three  or  four  stories  in  height,  stands  a 


THE  MERCHANTS  HA  VEN.  2$ 

bronze  equestrian  statue  of  Frederick  V.  In  one 
of  the  palaces  dwells  the  King,  in  another  the  Crown 
Prince,  in  another  the  Queen  Dowager,  and  the  last  is 
set  apart  for  the  service  of  the  foreign  office. 

Christian  IX.,  the  reigning  monarch,  is  about  sixty 
years  of  age.  He  was  crowned  in  1863.  His  children 
have  made  the  most  brilliant  matrimonial  alliances  of 
any  dynasty  of  Europe.  The  heir-apparent,  who  is 
thirty-seven  years  old,  is  married  to  a  daughter  of  King 
Charles  XV.  of  Sweden  and  Norway.  The  eldest 
daughter,  Princess  Alexandra,  is  wedded  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  heir-apparent  of  England.  Prince  Wilhelm, 
elected  King  of  the  Hellenes  under  the  title  of  George 
I.,  selected  as  his  Queen  a  Grand  Duchess  of  Russia, 
daughter  of  one  of  the  late  Czar's  brothers.  The  next 
child,  Princess  Dagmar,  was  espoused  by  Grand  Duke 
Alexander,  then  Czarowitch  but  now  Emperor  of  Rus- 
sia; and  another  daughter  became  the  bride  of  the 
late  King  of  Hanover.  The  only  child  remaining  is  a 
young  prince  as  yet  unmarried — but  who  I  trust  may 
in  due  course  have  as  good  fortune  as  his  noted  broth- 
ers and  sisters. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Chronological  Collections. 

The  chiefest  glory  of  Copenhagen,  to  my  mind,  is 
the  Museum  of  Northern  Antiquities  and  its  proper 
supplement,  the  Chronological  Collection  of  the  Danish 
Kings.  I  can  in  justice  compare  the  first  to  nothing 
in  Europe,  at  least  there  is  nothing  with  which  I  am 
acquainted  so  large  and  complete,  nor  so  admirably 
arranged  for  purposes  of  study.  To  that  extent  are 
the  Danes  interested  in  the  antiquities  of  their  country, 
that  the  government  promises  the  finder  of  any  objects 
of  precious  metal  their  full  value  if  they  are  offered  to 
this  museum.  The  second  repository  of  chronological 
curiosities  may  be  said  to  unite  in  itself  the  varied  ex- 
cellencies of  the  Imperial  Treasury  at  Vienna,  the 
Green  Vaults  at  Dresden,  the  Hotel  Cluny  at  Paris, 
and  the  South  Kensington  at  London. 

The  collection  of  Northern  Antiquities  contains 
objects  which  are  invaluable  to  the  historian  of  early 
civilization.  They  consist  of  weapons,  tools,  imple- 
ments, domestic  utensils,  hunting  gear,  wooden  coffins, 
cinerary  urns,  musical  instruments,  trinkets,  Runic 
inscriptions,  ecclesiastical  vessels,  armor,  tombstones, 
etc.     There  are   about  forty  thousand  specimens,  all 


CHRONOLOGICAL    COLLECTIONS.  2$ 

arranged  according  to  the  order  of  time.  Thus  there 
are  five  leading  departments  or  periods  represented — 
the  Flint,  down  to  1500  b.  c;  the  Bronze,  to  250  a.  d.; 
the  Iron,  to  1000;  the  Mediaeval  Christian,  to  1550; 
and  the  Modern,  down  to  about  1660.  A  learned  and 
most  entertaining  French  catalogue,  with  capital  illus- 
trations, is  furnished  the  visitor.  The  museum  was' 
founded  in  1S07.  The  present  director  is  Mr.  J.  J.  A. 
Worsaae,  one  of  the  most  famous  archaeologists  living. 
He  studied  the  general  subject  of  Northern  Antiquities 
assiduously  for  several  years  and  then  travelled  over 
Europe,  collecting  everything  which  could  serve  to 
throw  light  upon  the  early  history  and  arts  of  the 
Scandinavian  peoples.  He  is  the  author  of  several 
works,  in  Danish  and  in  English,  of  the  highest  an- 
tiquarian value. 

The  collection  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  is 
displayed  in  twenty  rooms,  the  first  eight  of  which  are 
the  most  interesting.  The  others  contain  objects  which 
may  be  matched  in  several  other  museums.  In  the 
first  room  one  sees  sections  of  the  celebrated  kitchen- 
middens,  which  have  been  discovered  at  more  than  fifty 
points  along  the  shores  of  Denmark.  These  consist  of 
oyster- shells,  indicative  of  the  staple  food  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  and  pieces  of  rude  pottery 
and  domestic  implements  of  stone  and  bone  found  em- 
bedded in  them.  The  second  and  third  rooms  contain 
a  great  variety  of  stone  axes,  arrow-heads,  and  knives, 
many  of  them  beautifully  ground  and  polished.  The 
fourth  and  fifth  rooms  are  devoted  to  bronze  tools  and 


26  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

arms.  Here  are  some  coffins  hollowed  out  entire  from 
trunks  of  oak  trees,  and  containing  garmented  bodies 
the  oldest  known.  One  notices  also  many  gold  orna- 
ments. The  remaining  rooms  are  occupied  by  relics  of 
the  middle  ages,  running  through  the  period  of  the  re- 
naissance down  to  1660.  The  time  extending  from  that 
year  to  the  present  day  is  illustrated  by  the  chronologi- 
cal collection  of  the  kings  of  Denmark. 

The  Ethnographical  Museum  in  the  same  building 
is  also  one  of  the  most  extensive  in  Europe,  occupying, 
as  it  does,  twenty-eight  rooms.  It  is  roughly  divided 
into  two  grand  departments  :  Ancient  Times  and  Mod- 
ern Times.  The  former  comprises  antiquities  of  nearly 
all  the  world  save  the  north  of  Europe;  and  the  latter 
division  embraces  objects  from  primitive  and  barbarous 
non-European  nations,  illustrative  of  their  arts.  The 
catalogue  here  is  in  Danish,  which,  from  the  strong  re- 
semblance to  English  I  have  remarked,  is  of  consider- 
able assistance  in  studying  the  contents  of  the  respective 
rooms. 

One  is  much  struck  by  the  paleolithic  implements 
and  specimens  of  the  rude  attempts  at  art  by  primeval 
man  —  the  "  man  of  the  cavern  "  —  contained  in  this 
splendid  museum.  They  resemble  in  many  important 
respects  those  now  in  use  among  the  Esquimaux.  And 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  quite  recently  Prof.  Boyd 
Dawkins,  of  England,  has  expressed  his  belief  that  from 
their  mode  of  living  and  especially  their  not  caring  to 
bury  their  dead,  the  cave  men  were  indeed  a  sort  of 
Esquimaux,  and  that  the  latter  people  of  the  present 


CHRONOLOGICAL    COLLECTIONS.  2J 

day  represent  the  cave  men  as  they  lived  in  Europe 
during  ages  long  gone  by. 

The  collection  of  the  kings  of  Denmark  is  preserved 
in  the  palace  of  Rosenborg.  The  design  of  this  build- 
ing, probably  the  most  picturesque  in  Copenhagen,  has 
been  attributed  to  the  genius  of  the  celebrated  architect 
Inigo  Jones.  It  is  entirely  devoted  to  this  museum 
and  one  or  more  rooms  are  dedicated  to  the  reign  of 
each  Danish  king,  being  decorated  in  the  style  of  the 
period  and  filled  with  contemporaneous  furniture,  arms, 
ceramics,  jewels,  medallions,  coins,  dresses,  pictures 
and  miscellaneous  objects  of  art.  The  historical  ar- 
rangement of  this  collection  is  probably  not  excelled  by 
that  of  any  other.  It  also  is  under  the  management  of 
Mr.  Worsaae,  who  has  classified  it  under  three  grand 
periods  of  Danish  history,  covering  about  four  hundred 
and  thirty-three  years,  as  follows  :  (i)  1448 — 1648, 
before  and  under  Christian  IV  (Renaissance)  ;  (2) 
164S — 1808,  Christian  IV.  to  the  French  Revolution 
(Rococo  style)  ;  (3)  1808 — 1881,  French  Revolution  to 
our  own  Times  (Imperial  Renaissance).  It  requires 
half  a  day  to  gain  a  general  idea  of  their  contents  by 
merely  walking  through  the  rooms.  I  have  not  a  tenth 
part  of  the  necessary  space  to  properly  describe  the 
most  remarkable  objects — the  ancient  drinking-horns, 
the  jewelled  orders,  the  silver  and  gold-hilted  swords, 
the  tables,  the  candelabra,  the  jewel-boxes,  crystal  and 
gold  goblets,  falcon-heads,  vases,  cabinets,  clocks,  coro- 
nation-chairs, etc.,  etc. 

I    must,    however,    briefly   refer   to   a   few   famous 


28  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

curiosities.  First  perhaps  stands  what  is  called  the 
Oldenborg  horn,  which  dates  from  the  fifteenth  century. 
It  is  of  silver,  richly  gilt  and  enameled  and  decorated 
over  the  entire  surface,  partly  with  engraved  figures  of 
dragons  and  serpents,  and  partly  with  embossed  orna- 
ments of  coats-of-arms  and  inscriptions.  The  general 
character  of  the  ornamentation  is  an  inspiration  of  the 
middle  ages.  The  whole  has  evidently  been  intended 
to  represent  a  walled  town,  the  spires  of  which  form 
the  lid  and  knob  in  which  the  points  of  the  horn 
terminate  ;  while  the  entrance  is  beneath  two  towers 
by  which  it  is  supported.  There  are  also  to  be  seen 
balconies,  ladies  playing  on  the  lute,  knights  and  es- 
quires. In  short  a  picture  in  miniature  of  the  life  of 
chivalry  is  depicted  in  its  many  colored  diversity. 
Upon  the  knob  sits  a  little  savage  holding  a  narrow 
scroll,  with  an  inscription  signifying,  "  Empty  the  horn  !" 
In  the  room  devoted  to  the  times  of  Christian  IV., 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  is  a  splendid 
vase  nearly  four  feet  in  height  upon  which  a  famous 
artificer  of  that  period,  named  Magnus  Berg,  is  said  to 
have  labored  for  twelve  years.  It  is  composed  chiefly 
of  gold,  silver,  and  ivory.  On  the  top,  above  a  crystal 
dome,  a  swan  swims  in  a  mussel-shell.  Under  what 
may  be  styled  the  cupola  there  is  a  splendid  carving  of 
the  expedition  of  Galatea  over  the  sea.  Upon  the 
surface  of  the  principal  piece  are  cut,  in  bas-relief, 
figures  of  Neptune,  Polyphemus,  Europa,  and  Acis. 
The  handles  and  exterior  supports  are  formed  of  dol- 
phins, nereids,  and  tritons.     The  pedestal  consists  of 


CHRONOLOGICAL    COLLECTIONS.  2Q 

four  dolphins,  which  from  each  corner  spout  water  into 
a  mussel-shell.  These  dolphins,  as  well  as  the  nereids 
and  tritons,  are  fashioned  of  silver  and  ivory  alternately. 
The  middle  part  of  this  wondrous  vase  is  of  ivory, 
bound  above  and  beneath  by  richly  gilded,  chased  and 
embossed  silver-work  ;  the  band  also  which  runs  over 
the  crystal  dome  to  support  the  swan,  is  of  silver  and 
gold  in  the  form  of  fruits  and  leaves.  Altogether  this 
fabric  is  a  marvellous  exhibition  of  skilful  and  patient 
labor. 

The  third  floor  of  the  palace  of  Rosenborg  is  en- 
tirely taken  up  by  a  great  banqueting-hall.  Upon  the 
walls,  which  are  hung  with  rare  and  valuable  tapestries, 
are  many  fine  paintings,  and  the  vaulted  ceiling  is  cov- 
ered with  beautiful  stucco  reliefs.  In  the  centre  is  the 
Danish  escutcheon  with  its  proper  heraldic  colors,  while 
about  it  are  the  emblems  of  royalty — four  large  paint- 
ings. At  one  end  of  this  hall  stand  two  very  curious 
old  coronation-chairs.  The  larger  is  about  eight  feet  in 
height  and  made  almost  entirely  of  narwhal  horn,  which 
material,  two  hundred  years  ago,  was  worth  its  weight 
in  silver.  It  is  ornamented  by  eight  allegorical  figures 
formed  of  gilded  metal,  of  which  four  sit  on  the  exterior 
near  the  arms,  two  in  recesses  above  the  back,  and  two 
in  recumbent  positions  upon  the  canopy,  whose  apex 
terminates  in  the  globe  and  cross.  In  a  hollow  space 
beneath  this  is  a  large  piece  of  crystal-spar,  which  on 
the  day  of  coronation  is  replaced  by  an  amethyst,  said 
to  be  the  finest  in  existence  and  at  present  preserved 
among  the  Regalia.    The  canopy  is  still  further  decora- 


30  AT0RSIC,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

ted  by  two  enormous  oval  moss-agates,  the  gift  of  an 
Indian  prince.  The  seat,  back,  and  arms  are  covered 
with  gold  brocade. 

I  made  several  visits  to  both  these  grand  Danish 
museums,  and  finally  concluded  that  weeks  of  exami- 
nation given  to  them  would  not  be  ill-spent.  But, 
since  so  much  time  for  such  a  purpose  was  not  at  my 
disposal,  I  beg  the  reader  to  accompany  me  in  bidding 
farewell  to  these  innumerable  traces  of  the  great  ages 
of  stone,  bronze,  and  iron  down  to  and  including 
those  of  printing  and  steam,  and  to  consider  a  few  of 
the  more  obvious  outgrowths  of  the  age  of  peace  — 
commerce,  culture  and  colonization. 

The  vessels  annually  entering  Copenhagen  number 
more  than  ten  thousand.  The  exports  of  Denmark 
consist  almost  entirely  of  agricultural  produce,  such 
as  corn,  barley  and  butter,  and  live  animals — oxen, 
sheep  and  horses,  together  with  leather,  wool  and  train- 
oil.  The  finest  cavalry  horses  used  in  the  German 
army  come  from  this  little  kingdom.  In  1877,  the 
total  exports,  half  of  which  were  to  Great  Britain  and 
Germany,  amounted  to  about  $45,000,000.  The  prin- 
cipal imports  are  cotton  manufactures,  coal  and  iron. 
During  the  same  year  the  value  of  these,  coming  chiefly 
from  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  was  over  $60,000,000. 
Formerly  protective  duties  of  a  most  unjust  and  unwise 
character  were  enforced  in  Denmark.  The  commercial 
legislation  was  even  restrictive  to  such  a  degree  that 
imported  manufactures  had  to  be  delivered  to  the  cus- 
toms, where  they  were  sold  by  public  auction,  and  the 


.CHRONOLOGICAL    COLLECTIONS.  3 1 

proceeds  of  this  the  importer  received  from  the  custom- 
houses after  a  deduction  was  made  for  the  duty. 

The  Danes  though  few  in  number  yield  to  no  peo- 
ple in  Europe  in  industry  and  enterprise.  The  king 
sets  the  example  in  his  devotion  to  the  development  of 
the  interior  resources  and  the  popular  institutions. 
Though  little  room  for  railway  is  apparent,  yet  nearly 
a  thousand  miles  of  it  exist.  About  two-thirds  of  this 
belong  to  the  State.  There  are  also  telegraph  lines  to 
the  linear  extent  of  2,000  miles,  and  submarine  cables 
are  laid  to  England,  Norway,  Sweden  and  Russia. 
The  public  debt  of  Denmark,  which  now  amounts  to 
about  $50,000,000,  has  been  almost  wholly  incurred  in 
improvements  of  a  very  useful  and  important  charac- 
ter, such  as  the  construction  of  railways,  harbors  and 
light-houses,  and  the  founding  of  schools  and  museums. 
Even  this  comparatively  small  indebtedness  —  small  for 
a  modern  European  nation  —  is  being  rapidly  reduced. 

The  colonies  of  Denmark  are  all  islands — if  as  Dr. 
Hayes,  the  Arctic  explorer,  seems  to  think,  Greenland 
may  be  ranked  as  such.  The  others  are  Iceland,  the 
Faroe  group,  and  the  three  islands  of  St.  Croix,  St. 
Thomas,  and  St.  Johns  in  the  Lesser  Antilles.  These 
colonies  aggregate  about  six  times  the  area  of  Denmark 
proper — which  is  even  a  smaller  country  than  Switzer- 
land —  though  they  have  a  population  only  one-tenth  as 
great.  Iceland,  which  is  exactly  the  same  size  as  our 
State  of  Virginia,  is  a  mountainous  island,  the  greater 
part  of  whose  surface  is  a  dreary  wilderness  of  lava. 
It  contains  75,000  people,  who  are  mainly  engaged  in 


32  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

fishing  and  cattle-raising.  Greenland  is  nearly  as  large 
as  Germany  and  France  taken  together.  Its  popula- 
tion however  is  less  than  9,000,  of  whom  only  300  are 
Danes.  The  country  is  mountainous  and  barren,  and 
covered  with  glaciers.  These  two  islands  constitute 
what  is  known  as  Danish  America.  The  Faroe  islands, 
containing  a  population  of  about  10,000,  lie  nearly 
midway  between  the  Shetlands  (about  150  miles  north- 
east of  Scotland)  and  Iceland.  They  export  to 
the  Danish  markets  tallow,  sheep-skins,  feathers,  and 
train-oil. 

But  of  all  the  colonies  of  Denmark,  those  in  the 
West  Indies  are  alone  of  any  great  commercial  impor- 
tance. Unitedly  these  have  about  40,000  inhabitants. 
St.  Croix  is  much  the  largest,  with  a  population — 
mostly  free  negroes — of  25,000.  The  cultivation  of  the 
sugar  cane  is  the  chief  industry.  About  fifteen  million 
pounds  of  raw  sugar,  and  a  million  gallons  of  rum  are 
annually  exported.  The  imports  are  mainly  cotton 
goods.  A  few  years  ago  St.  Thomas  was  offered  for 
sale  to  the  United  States  government,  which  came  very 
near  purchasing  it,  but  for  some  good  reason  doubtless 
the  negotiations  were  suddenly  broken  off. 

The  chief  interest  of  European  Denmark  seems  to 
centre  in  Copenhagen,  though  some  of  her  colonies 
still  present  broad  fields  of  interesting  travel  and  re- 
search. How  inviting,  for  instance,  is  Greenland  in  its 
connection  with  Polar  exploration  and  its  still  unknown 
northern  boundary.  Then  there  is  Iceland,  land  of 
prodigies,  with  its  glaciers  and  hot  springs,  its  volcanoes 


CHRONOLOGICAL    COLLECTIONS.  33 

and  mountain  plateaus,  its  beautiful  caverns  and  gaunt 
deserts,  which  Baudelaire  might  have  loved  to  dream 
about.  Its  historical  and  political  interest  also  is  very 
great.  I  need  but  refer  to  the  carefully  preserved  Ice- 
landic Sagas  which  prove  that  America  was  discovered 
in  A.  D.  986,  more  than  five  hundred  years  before  the 
reputed  discovery  by  Columbus  ;  and  to  the  constitu- 
tion, restoring  the  self-government  of  the  island,  which 
King  Christian  granted  the  people  on  the  occasion  of 
his  visit,  in  1874,  to  the  millennial  festival  commemorat- 
ing its  first  colonization. 

Steamers  from  Copenhagen  to  Reikiavik,  the  capital 
of  Iceland,  now  run  regularly  every  month,  calling  at 
Aberdeen  in  Scotland  and  at  the  Orkney,  Shetland  and 
Faroe  islands.  The  distance  is  something  like  1,500 
miles  ;  the  voyage  by  steamer,  with  customary  stop- 
pages, employs  a  week,  or  by  sailing  vessels  direct, 
about  two  weeks. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Metropolis  of  Norway. 

Seventy-four  hours  are  required  to  cover  the  dis- 
tance between  Copenhagen  and  Christiania.  The  ser- 
vice is  performed  by  a  very  comfortable  and  fast  line  of 
steamers  which  sail  three  times  a  week  from  Copen- 
hagen, making  a  brief  stay  at  Gothenburg,  in  Sweden, 
whence  the  traveller  may  go,  in  twelve  hours  by  rail, 
direct  to  Stockholm. 

We  kept  close  along  the  coast  of  Sealand  which  was 
very  picturesque  with  its  rich  cornfields,  green  pas- 
tures and  fine  beech  forests,  enlivened  with  numerous 
chateaux,  farm-houses  and  villages.  At  Elsinore  the 
Sound,  which  at  Copenhagen  is  about  twenty  miles  in 
breadth,  had  narrowed  to  a  trifle  over  two  miles.  Upon 
the  opposite  bank,  in  Sweden,  was  the  old  seaport  town 
of  Helsingborg.  The  channel  between  it  and  Elsinore 
might  be  termed  the  gate  of  the  Baltic,  for  here  one  is 
certain  always  to  see  going  in  or  out  hundreds  of  ships 
and  steamers.  Formerly  all  vessels  passing  here  were 
subject  to  a  toll,  for  the  Danish  Crown  looked  upon  the 
Sound  as  exclusively  her  property  since  she  at  that  time 
possessed  both  sides  of  its  entrance.  For  over  a  cen- 
tury this  right  was  never  successfully  contested  by  the 


THE   METROPOLIS  OF  NORWAY.  35 

other  powers,  though  the  regulations  made  from  time  to 
time  concerning  the  tax  at  last  led  to  hostilities  between 
Denmark,  and  Sweden  and  Holland.  The  United 
States,  however,  was  the  first  to  declare  its  purpose  to 
submit  no  longer  to  the  old  usage.  The  obnoxious 
duties  were  therefore  entirely  abolished,  in  1857,  in 
consideration  of  an  award  to  Denmark  of  $17,500,000 
by  the  nations  most  interested  in  the  commerce  of  the 
Baltic. 

We  pass  near  the  Kronborg,  a  picturesque  fortress 
of  a  quadrangular  form  rising  conspicuously  beyond  the 
town.  It  was  built  over  three  hundred  years  ago,  but 
of  course  has  since  been  added  to  and  repaired  so 
much  as  to  be  almost  another  structure.  One  of  the 
ramparts  called  the  Flag  Battery  is  said  to  be  "  the 
platform  of  the  castle  of  Elsinore  "  where  the  ghost 
appeared  to  Hamlet.  The  scene  of  another  popular 
legend  is  also  laid  here.  The  tutelary  genius  of  the 
kingdom,  Holger  Danske,  familiar  to  all  readers  of  An- 
dersen's fables,  is  said  to  repose  beneath  the  old  citadel, 
ready  to  arise  when  Denmark  is  in  danger.  While 
speaking  of  legends,  I  may  as  well  say  that  this  is  not 
the  Kronborg  of  Shakespeare  and  of  Hamlet,  for  the 
melancholy  prince  lived  in  a  different  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  a  thousand  years  before  Kronborg  was  built. 

Leaving  Elsinore,  which  is  a  very  old  town  of  about 
9,000  inhabitants,  we  passed  out  from  the  sparkling 
blue  Sound  into  the  dark  green  waters  of  the  Kattegat, 
"strait  of  Catti,"  the  Catti  being  a  nation  anciently 
dwelling  in   the  northwestern   part  of    Europe.      The 


36  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

strait  is  nearly  100  miles  in  width  and  perhaps  150  in 
length.  It  contains  a  few  small  islands,  and  many 
sandbanks  dangerous  to  navigation.  We  stopped  at 
Gothenburg  in  Sweden,  and  nearly  opposite  the  Skaw 
or  extreme  northern  point  of  Jutland.  Of  this  Swed- 
ish city,  where  our  steamer  stayed  only  twenty  minutes, 
I  shall  have  something  to  say  further  on.  We  next 
entered  that  broad  arm  of  the  North  Sea  known  as  the 
Skager  Rak,  the  "crooked  strait  of  Skager,"  which 
though  of  about  the  same  dimensions  as  the  Kattegat 
is  much  deeper.  Frequently  violent  storms  visit  this 
strait,  but  we  were  favored  with  most  delightful  weather. 
Early  on  the  following  morning  we  entered  the  fiord 
or  bay  of  Christiania  fifteen  miles  in  width  at  its  mouth, 
at  the  northern  extremity  of  which,  some  seventy  miles 
distant,  is  situated  the  metropolis  of  Norway.  The 
fiord  is  classed  among  the  select  portions  of  Norwe- 
gian scenery.  Its  beauty  however  is  of  a  very  mild  type. 
The  low  banks  are  covered  with  fir  and  pine  trees  and 
in  parts  the  glossy  expanse  is  studded  with  diminu- 
tive islands.  In  a  particularly  narrow  reach  is  built  a 
strong  fort.  Soon  villas  appear,  afterwards  glimpses  of 
churches,  then  the  new  palace  and  the  castle  of  Ager- 
shuus,  and  now,  rounding  a  small  island,  the  entire  city 
is  distinctly  seen  upon  the  sloping  sides  of  a  chain  of 
low  hills  running  east  and  west.  We  slowly  enter  the 
harbor  and  gliding  by  a  few  vessels,  drop  anchor  op- 
posite the  custom-house.  A  hurried  and  partial  exam- 
ination of  baggage  and  I  am  on  the  shore  of  the  great 
peninsula  of   Northern    Europe.     I    walk    up   a  clean 


THE  METROPOLIS   OF  NORWAY.  T>7 

broad  street  which  is  lined  with  low  houses,  pass  a  large 
church,  then  the  Post-office,  then  the  Parliament-house 
and  at  last  reach  the  Grand  Hotel,  which  is  to  be  my 
temporary  terminus. 

Christiania  derives  its  name  from  King  Christian  IV. 
by  whom  it  was  founded  about  250  years  ago.  It  is  laid 
out  in  rectangular  blocks,  with  large  squares,  market- 
places and  public  gardens.  Its  present  population  is 
nearly  120,000.  There  is  not  however,  much  of  interest 
to  be  seen  here.  Christiania  is  rather  a  large  town, — a 
great  assemblage  of  dwelling-houses  and  stores,  and  pos- 
sesses very  few  of  the  attractions  we  are  accustomed  to 
associate  with  the  word  city.  The  public  buildings  are 
few  in  number  and  not  imposing  in  appearance.  There 
is  but  one  theatre  and  but  one  music-hall.  The  long 
narrow  streets  seem  almost  deserted.  At  one  end  of 
that  on  which  my  hotel  was  situated  stands  the  royal 
abode,  a  huge  quadrangular  brick  edifice  painted  yel- 
low and  much  more  resembling  a  factory  than  a  king's 
palace. 

The  day  following  my  advent,  the  king  arrived  from 
Stockholm  on  a  visit  to  his  Norwegian  subjects.  H. 
M.'s  civil  list  as  King  of  Norway  is  about  $150,000  a 
year,  and  he  is  accustomed  to  pass  some  weeks  every 
summer  in  Christiania.  He  rode  from  the  railway  sta- 
tion to  the  yellow  factory  above  mentioned  in  a  barouche 
drawn  by  four  horses,  followed  by  his  suite  in  other  car- 
riages, and  escorted  by  a  troop  of  cavalry  and  a  band  of 
music.  The  present  king  was  crowned  in  1872.  He  is 
the  grandson  of  Bernadotte,  Napoleon's  famous  marshal, 


38  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

who,  as  the  reader  is  aware,  ascended  the  throne  of  the 
Swedes  under  the  name  of  Carl  Johan  XIV.  Before 
his  accession  he  was  general  of  the  army.  He  is  a  tall, 
slender  man  of  soldierly  bearing,  with  a  large  well-shaped 
head,  and  an  expression  whose  frankness  and  pertinacity 
are  not  concealed  by  a  full  beard.  He  appears  to  be 
about  fifty  years  of  age.  His  abilities  and  acquirements 
are  far  beyond  the  average  of  crowned  heads.  Besides 
the  duties  imposed  upon  him  by  his  lofty  position, 
he  has  given  much  time  to  literature  and  authorship. 
His  poetical  translation  of  Goethe's  "  Faust  "  into  Swe- 
dish was  of  sufficient  merit  (considering  his  kingship), 
to  procure  for  him  from  the  Frankfort  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, an  election  as  corresponding  member.  The  king 
is  also  in  the  habit  of  frequently  contributing  articles 
to  the  Stockholm  magazines  and  newspapers,  and  would 
make  an  excellent  "special"  for  the  New  York  press. 
His  last  published  volume  is  entitled  "  Poems  and  Leaf- 
lets from  my  Journal." 

The  castle  of  Agershuus  commands  the  entrance  to 
the  harbor.  A  part  of  it  was  built  upwards  of  five  hun- 
dred years  ago,  but  it  is  not  of  any  special  military 
importance  at  the  present  day.  It  contains  the  Regalia 
of  Norway,  the  national  records,  and  a  small  collection 
of  old  armor.  Here  also  in  a  room  or  cage  formed  of 
thick  iron  bars,  was  immured  for  life  a  most  notorious 
criminal  named  Hoyland,  who  is  entitled  to  figure  as 
the  Robin  Hood  of  Norway.  A  recent  writer  says  "his 
vices  were  inordinate  love  of  the  fair  sex  and  theft.  He 
was  a  native  of  Christiansand,  where  he  began  his  ca- 


THE  METROPOLIS  OF  NORWAY.  39 

reer.     On  being  imprisoned   for  some  petty  theft,  he 
broke  into  the  inspector's  room  while  he  was  at  church, 
and  stole  his  clothes  ;  in  these  Hoyland  dressed  him- 
self, and  quietly  walked  out  of  the  town  unobserved 
and  unsuspected.     He  was  afterwards  repeatedly  cap- 
tured and  imprisoned  in  the  castle,  and  as  often  made 
his  escape.    Previous  to  his  last  evasion,  all  descriptions 
of  irons  having  been  found  useless,  he  was  placed  in  soli- 
tary confinement  in  the  strongest  part  of  the  basement 
of  the  citadel.     Here  he  had  been  confined  for  several 
years  when  one  day  his  cell  was  found  empty  and  the 
prisoner  gone,  apparently  without  leaving  a  trace  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  effected  his  flight.     On  remov- 
ing his  bed  it  was  found  that  he  had  cut  through  the 
thick  planks  of  the  flooring,  which  he  had  replaced  on 
leaving  the  cell,  and  had  sunk  a  shaft  under  the  wall  of 
his  prison  which  enabled  him  to  gain  the  courtyard  and 
reach  the  ramparts  unseen.    About  twelve  months  after- 
wards  the    National    Bank  was  robbed  of   60,000  rix 
dollars,  chiefly  paper  money,  and  in  the  most  mysterious 
manner,  there  being  no  trace  of  violence  upon  the  locks 
of  the  iron  chest  in  which  the  money  had  been  left,  nor 
upon  those  of  the  doors  of  the  bank.     Some  time  after- 
wards a  petty  theft  was  committed  by  a  man  who  was 
taken,  and  soon  recognized  to  be  Hoyland.     At  last  he 
hanged  himself  in  prison  in  despair." 

The  object  of  most  travellers  in  visiting  Norway 
seems  to  be  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  midnight  sun, 
which  perhaps  Mr.  Barnum,  with  his  happy  phraseology, 
might  call  the  "biggest  show  on  earth."     For  this  pur- 


40  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

pose  they  voyage  up  the  western  coast  as  far  as  Tromsoe 
or  Hammerfest  or  the  North  Cape,  according  to  the  sea- 
son of  the  year.  Nearly  two  thousand  miles  of  coast 
from  Christiania,  the  capital,  to  Vadso,  in  Finmark, 
are  thus  connected  by  means  of#  comfortable  mail 
steamers.  But  one  who  makes  this  journey  only  misses 
some  of  the  finest  scenery  in  Norway  and  fails  also  to 
make  acquaintance  with  an  interesting  people.  There 
are  three  routes  overland  from  Christiania  to  the  west 
coast,  each  of  which  boasts  of  some  special  attractions 
for  the  stranger.  The  best  is  without  doubt  that  over 
the  Fille  Field.  This  route — leading  from  Christiania 
to  the  head  of  the  Sogne  fiord,  thence  across  to  the 
Hardanger  fiord,  and  thence  to  the  city  of  Bergen — 
presents  a  series  of  valleys,  mountains,  bays,  glaciers, 
waterfalls  and  islands  unequalled  for  grandeur  and 
beauty  anywhere  else  in  Scandinavia. 

The  principal  fiords,  as  well  as  the  entire  seacoast, 
are  navigated  by  good  steamers.  There  is  a  railway 
from  Christiania  to  Trondjhem,  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  with  some  lake  connections,  and  a  few  other 
short  lines  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  me- 
tropolis. The  only  popular  and  comfortable  manner  of 
traversing  the  hilly  interior  is  by  means  of  that  curious 
vehicle  called  the  carriole.  This  is  a  species  of  gig 
somewhat  resembling  the  Italian  carricola,  with  large 
wheels  and  long  elastic  shafts  fastened  directly  to  the 
axle.  The  seat,  which  is  long  and  narrow,  like  a  scallop- 
shell,  and  of  sufficient  size  for  one  person  only,  rests  by 
cross-bars  upon  the  shafts.     You  sit  with  legs  extended 


THE  METROPOLIS  OF  NORWAY.  4 1 

almost  horizontally,  the  feet  bracing  against  one  of  the 
cross-bars  and  shafts,  as  in  a  skeleton  sulky,  to  prevent 
the  possibility  of  being  thrown  out,  since  many  of  the 
roads  are  quite  steep  and  rough.  Your  trunk  or  other 
luggage  and  a  bag  of  hay  for  the  horse,  are  carried 
behind  the  axle-tree  upon  a  board  attached  to  the  ends 
of  the  shafts.  Here  also  sits  the  postilion,  a  boy — 
sometimes  it  is  a  girl ! — who  is  to  take  back  the  horse 
at  the  end  of  the  stage,  the  traveler  generally  driving 
himself.  The  horses  are  attached  to  the  carrioles  by 
the  minimum  of  harness.  The  shafts  simply  rest  upon 
an  iron  back-yoke  fastened  by  a  short  strap  with  a 
wooden  peg  ;  there  are  no  traces.  The  horses,  many  of 
them  no  larger  than  those  of  the  well-known  Shetland 
breed,  are  very  docile  and  capable  of  great  exertion. 
They  are  driven  without  the  whip,  the  Norwegian  driver 
employing  a  peculiar  sibilant  sound  for  increasing  their 
speed,  and  a  sort  of  burring  noise  when  desiring  to  stop 
them. 

As  a  rule  the  roads  are  remarkably  good,  being 
macadamized  and  kept  in  order  by  the  landed  proprie- 
tors. There  are  no  toll-bars,  but  an  annual  tax  is  paid 
for  every  horse.  The  sled  or  sleigh  drawn  by  reindeer, 
called  a  pulkha,  and  employed  for  winter  travel  in  Lap- 
land, resembles  somewhat  the  carriole  without  its 
wheels. 

Carriole  traveling  is  carried  on  by  posting  under 
government  control,  there  being  fixed  stages,  with  sta- 
tion-houses varying  from  seven  to  ten  miles  apart.  The 
charges,  the  equivalent  of  about  fifty   cents   a  Norsk 


42  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

mile  (seven  English),  are  regulated  by  law.  Formerly 
it  was  necessary  in  posting  to  send  forward,  either  by 
messenger  or  post,  an  order  for  horses  at  each  station 
where  they  would  be  wanted,  stating  the  day  and  time 
of  the  traveler's  expected  arrival.  This  was  termed 
sending  forbud.  But  now  on  all  the  principal  roads  the 
postmaster  is  obliged  to  keep  a  certain  number  of  horses 
and  carrioles  in  readiness  and  it  is  only  in  the  very 
remote  districts  that  the  forbud  is  in  use.  These  two 
species  of  station  are  called,  the  one  a  "fast,"  the  other 
a  "  slow  "  station.  At  the  latter  the  farmers  in  the  dis- 
trict are  in  turn  obliged  to  provide  horses,  and  one  has 
frequently  to  wait  until  they  can  be  brought  from  a  dis- 
tant farm.  At  every  station  a  dagbog  or  daybook  is 
kept,  in  which  the  traveler  is  at  liberty  to  write  any 
complaint  he  may  have  to  make.  This  is  periodically 
inspected  by  the  authorities,  the  charges  are  investi- 
gated, and  the  delinquents  severely  punished.  The  car- 
rioles seem  well  adapted  to  the  character  of  the  country 
as  they  are  so  light  that  they  safely  pass  over  the 
roughest  roads  ;  they  may  also  be  transported  in  boats 
over  the  numerous  fiords  which  intersect  the  many 
routes.  Then  it  is  a  free  and  independent  way  of  trav- 
eling. One  can  go  slow  or  fast  or  stop  at  discretion, 
and  thus  can  see  everything  the  country  affords  to  the 
best  advantage. 

The  stations  I  found  to  be  much  on  the  same  plan. 
They  consist  usually  of  but  one  or  two  small  farm- 
houses surrounded  by  a  number  of  horse  and  cattle 
stables  and  wood  sheds.     A  large  room  is  always  set 


THE   METROPOLIS  OF  NORWAY.  43 

apart  as  a  general  parlor.  This  contains  a  little  plain 
furniture;  sometimes,  though  rarely  a  piano;  always 
the  photographs  of  the  postmaster  or  station-keeper  and 
his  family  ;  and  the  centre-table  is  often  graced,  in 
summer,  with  simple  mountain  flowers.  The  bed-rooms 
are  small  but  clean  ;  the  beds  invariably  too  narrow 
and  too  short,  and  carpets  never  adorn  the  floor.  The 
kitchen  is  apt  to  contain  a  stove  which  has  every  ap- 
pearance of  having  been  made  upon  the  premises  and 
by  a  person  who  had  not  given  his  entire  life  to  the 
theory  and  practice  of  this  useful  manufacture.  Ad- 
joining is  a  small  pantry  containing  the  few  simple  arti- 
cles which  are  served  to  the  famished  traveler.  One 
thus  procures  excellent  trout  and  salmon,  good  eggs, 
cheese,  and  sometimes  a  pudding.  Beef  or  mutton  or 
pork  is  occasionally  to  be  had,  but  is  usually  tough  and 
always  too  much  cooked.  Preserved  meats  are  some- 
times proffered.  The  distinctively  native  and  ever- 
recurring  dishes  are  a  species  of  sausage  and  flad- 
brod,  a  round,  thin  cake  made  of  barley  or  rye,  look- 
ing like  coarse  brown  leather,  and  hence  compared  to 
the  bottom  of  a  hat-box  with  the  paper  stripped  off. 
It  is  not  excessively  delicate  or  rich.  You  never 
fail  to  have  ol,  the  light,  spicy,  and  refreshing  beer  of 
Scandinavia. 

But  I  fear  the  reader  must  be  tired  of  this  rambling 
introduction  and  I  shall  therefore  begin  at  once  the 
story  of  my  long  tour  through  Norway.  I  had  decided 
upon  that  route  across  the  southern  part  of  the  country 
already  briefly  described.     Ninety  miles  by  rail  through 


44  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

an  undulating,  agricultural  region  and  a  steamboat  trip 
up  a  beautiful  little  fiord,  with  surrounding  hills  remind- 
ing one  of  Lake  Zurich,  in  Switzerland,  brought  me  to 
the  beginning  of  my  carriole  journey. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Field,  Foss,  and  Fiord. 

At  first  my  road  led  through  a  thinly  populated 
valley.  The  farm-houses  were  usually  but  one  story  in 
height,  built  of  logs  morticed  together  at  the  corners, 
with  the  seams  stuffed  with  moss.  The  roof  was  made 
of  birch  bark  covered  with  sod  and  huge  stones.  The 
windows  were  exceedingly  small  and  few.  The  people 
I  met  invariably  raised  their  hats,  a  custom  much  more 
agreeable  than  the  stolid  stare  of  other  nations.  The 
women  were  at  work  in  the  fields  with  the  men,  as  is 
customary  in  most  European  countries.  In  gradually 
rising  to  the  summit  of  the  Fille  Field,  I  left  behind 
me  the  spruces  and  pines,  and  met  instead  willows, 
alders  and  birch.  The  hills  became  dark  and  naked. 
The  wind  and  cold  increased.  Directly  north  of  the 
posting-station  here,  and  perhaps  30  miles  distant,  rises 
Mount  Galdhopiggen,  which  is  about  8,000  feet  high,  and 
the  loftiest  peak  in  Norway.  The  station-keeper  offt/ed 
to  sell  me  some  magnificent  antlers  of  reindeer  shot  the 
previous  autumn  on  the  neighboring  hills.  A  pair  about 
four  feet  in  length,  with  splendid  terminal  sprays,  costs 
only  $10.  Some  skins  were  also  remarkably  cheap, 
that  of  a  bear  $10,  a  deer  $2.50,  and  a  wolf  $3.     Near 


46  NORSK",  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

the  summit-level  of  the  pass,  I  visited  the  rude  house  of 
a  herdsman.  It  was  simply  a  little  hovel  of  loose  stones, 
hardly  high  enough  to  stand  upright  in,  and  filled  with 
smoke  which  rose  but  feebly  through  an  opening  in  the 
roof,  its  only  exit.  This  roof  was  composed  of  turf  in 
which  were  growing  birch  and  alder  trees.  In  a  huge 
kettle  milk  was  boiling  and  in  an  adjoining  closet 
cheeses  were  placed  in  rows  as  in  our  presses  at  home. 
These  shepherds  are  very  poor,  their  food  consisting 
almost  entirely  of  oatmeal. 

As  I  journeyed  on,  white-capped  mountains  appeared 
on  every  hand,  and  huge  snow-ploughs  by  the  roadside 
hinted  of  far  different  scenery  in  the  winter  time.  The 
snow  then  lies  upon  the  ground  in  most  places  four  feet 
deep,  and  in  some  drifts  one  hundred  feet.  Roads  are 
then  opened  by  snow-ploughs  over  the  frozen  fiords,  as 
being  more  level  and  more  direct.  Leaving  the  station 
of  Maristuen  I  entered  a  very  wild  canon.  Huge 
masses  of  grayish  rock  towered  1,500  and  2,000  feet 
above  me.  The  roar  of  the  torrent,  swelled  by  numbers 
of  little  streams  and  echoed  from  cliff  to  cliff,  was  almost 
deafening.  This  pass  is  a  yawning  gulf  which  must 
have  cost  nature  terrific  throes  in  its  formation.  The 
various  geological  strata  are  interesting.  Sometimes 
you  see  blue  quartz  below  and  mica  slate  above,,  the 
bottom  rock  being  often  upheaved  to  the  very  summit 
of  the  slate.  Some  of  the  huge  masses  resemble  the 
lava  torrents  of  Vesuvius.  Others  are  formed  of  layers 
bent  into  every  conceivable  shape,  having  numerous 
"faults,"  and  so  frayed  and  scarred  by  the  elements  as 


FIELD,  FOSS,  AND  FIORD.  47 

to  present  a  most  sombre  and  appalling  picture.  The 
gigantic  boulders  scattered  about  and  the  vast  sand 
terraces  passed  lower  down  the  stream  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  the  ocean  had  once  penetrated  far  into 
this  wondrous  gorge. 

Here  also  I  saw  many  pretty  peasant  women,  with 
their  oval  faces,  soft  gray  eyes,  and  fair  hair.  Their 
holiday  costume  was  very  picturesque.  It  consisted  of 
a  dark  bodice  gayly  trimmed  with  large  buttons,  a  green 
skirt,  immense  apron,  and  silver  brooches,  earrings  and 
shoe  buckles.  The  men  wore  short  jackets,  fancy  vests, 
knee  breeches,  and  red  worsted  caps. 

One  of  the  oldest  buildings  in  Norway  is  a  church 
which  was  so  near  my  route  that  I  stopped  to  inspect  it. 
It  is  said  to  date  from  the  eleventh  century  and  what  is 
more  singular  it  is  built  entirely  of  pine.  Doubtless  it 
is  indebted  largely  for  its  preservation  to  the  fact  of 
its  being  annually  coated  with  pitch.  This  stains  it  a 
dark  red  color.  It  is  a  most  fantastic  little  building  in 
the  Byzantine  and  Romanesque  styles  of  architecture. 
There  are  three  tiers  of  receding  roofs,  of  which  the 
lower  comes  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  ground,  cover- 
ing a  passage  about  three  feet  wide  which  runs  entirely 
around  the  exterior.  The  gables  of  the  roofs  and  the 
uppermost  spire  are  ornamented  with  grotesque  dragons 
and  crosses.  The  entrance  is  encircled  by  some  singu- 
lar Runic  carving,  in  which  the  dragon's  head  predom- 
inates, and  the  door-knocker  and  lock  consist  of  iron- 
work recalling  that  of  Nuremburg,  in  Germany.  The 
nave  is  only  about  forty  feet  square  and  the  chancel, 


48  NOPSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

which  is  perhaps  half  as  large,  is  terminated  by  a  semi- 
circular apse  whose  radius  is  but  five  feet.  Here  is 
the  ancient  stone  altar.  It  is  dimly  lighted  by  several 
small  windows.  The  situation  of  this  quaint  little 
church  is  most  picturesque.  It  stands  in  the  midst  of 
a  large  meadow  and  at  the  extremity  of  a  rather  large 
opening  in  the  valley,  surrounded  on  every  side  by  im- 
mense dark  walls  of  rock. 

After  a  pleasant  experience  of  three  days,  I  ex- 
changed my  carriole  for  a  steamer — a  little  vessel  hardly 
fifty  feet  in  length — plying  upon  an  upper  arm  of  the 
Sogne  fiord.  This  is  the  largest  or  at  least  the  longest 
fiord  in  Norway,  as  it  extends  about  120  miles  directly 
inland  from  the  sea.  The  water  is  of  an  emerald  hue 
and  in  some  places  over  a  mile  in  depth.  With  its 
numerous  arms  it  may  very  appropriately  be  likened  to 
the  skeleton  of  a  tree.  It  is  in  the  smaller  branches 
that  the  finest  scenery  is  generally  found.  The  friths 
of  Western  Scotland  would  convey  but  an  imperfect 
idea  of  the  Norway  fiords.  Those  lack  the  diversity, 
the  sublimity,  and  the  gracefulness  of  these.  The  main 
trunk  of  Sogne  fiord  varies  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  in 
width,  and  the  bordering  hills  range  from  1,000  to  5,000 
feet  in  height.  Although  its  general  direction  is  east 
and  west,  yet  it  is  so  tortuous  in  detail  that  one  can 
never  see  far  in  advance.  This,  however,  only  serves 
to  increase  the  interest,  for  scene  follows  upon  scene 
with  such  rapidity  that  one  never  tires  of  gazing.  The 
contrasts,  too,  as  we  steam  along,  are  most  remarkable. 
There  is  perpetual  variety  in  form  and  feature.    On  the 


FIELD,  FOSS,  AND  FIORD.  49 

one  side  we  have  rough,  almost  barren  hills  capped  with 
patches  of  snow  ;  on  the  other,  a  bright  little  dale  with 
a  few  houses  and  cultivated  fields.  Or  we  see  a  range 
of  densely  wooded  dark-green  hills  and  just  above  them 
the  glinting  glaciers  of  some  rocky  summit.  The  stern, 
massive,  immovable  character  of  the  stone  hills  forms 
a  very  striking  comparison  with  the  clear  bosom  of  the 
sea,  ruffled  by  just  the  faintest  breeze.  I  constitute 
myself  the  figure-head  of  the  little  steamer  as  I  take  my 
seat  directly  upon  the  prow.  The  atmosphere  is  of 
crystal,  not  a  cloud  flecks  the  sky.  The  light  certainly 
could  not  be  more  favorable  for  observing  the  master- 
pieces of  nature  placed  so  charmingly  before  me.  What 
a  region  for  an  artist  ! 

The  steamer  turns  now  into  a  little  bay  (ten  miles 
in  length  and  at  its  mouth,  less  than  half  a  mile  in 
width)  called  Naerofiord.  Here  the  scenery  becomes 
at  once  wildly  romantic  and  savagely  grand.  At  the 
right  a  vertical  wall  of  hoary  rock,  without  a  patch  of 
vegetation,  rises  perhaps  2,500  feet  in  the  air.  On  the 
left  the  bluffs  are  covered  with  low  scrub.  We  see  no 
peaks,  no  pointed  summits;  the  tops  of  the  mountains 
all  seem  to  be  rounded  and  dome-shaped.  The  silver 
sheen  of  the  water  reflects  to  perfection  the  gray  of  the 
rock,  the  green  of  the  birch  trees,  and  the  white  of  the 
snow-fields.  In  no  part  of  the  world  have  I  ever  seen 
mountains  so  clearly  defined  against  the  sky.  Their 
lines  are  more  diversified,  their  summits  less  smooth, 
their  colors  more  varied,  their  vegetation  less  exuberant ; 
in  short,  they  are  characterized  by  a  greater  number  of 


50  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

peculiarities  than  are  elsewhere  to  be  found  among 
mountains.  The  scene  is  at  the  same  time  appalling 
and  enchanting.  Cascades  in  some  places  fall  from  the 
tops  of  cliffs  1,500  feet  in  height,  dashing  themselves 
over  the  rough  rocks  in  liquid  splinters  and  opalescent 
foam,  through  which  the  sun  strikes  myriad  rainbows. 
The  sides  of  the  hills  are  everywhere  worn  into  gullies 
by  descending  torrents.  One  also  observes  chains  of 
slender  falls  and  round  hollowed  basins.  Some  of  the 
mountains  are  said  to  actually  attain  the  height  of  a 
mile.  The  extreme  transparency  of  the  atmosphere, 
however,  renders  the  seeming  height  less  than  the  real, 
and  so  the  story  wears  a  trifle  of  the  incredible.  The 
sea  reflects  everything  most  marvelously.  One  sees 
the  entire  panorama  by  simply  gazing  into  the  water. 
The  forms  of  the  mountains  and  their  colors  seem  re- 
flected still  more  sharply  within  the  water  than  they 
absolutely  are  in  themselves.  When  a  snow-capped 
mountain,  in  its  entirety,  is  for  the  first  time  beheld 
reversed  in  the  sea,  the  effect  is  bewildering.  Spell- 
bound I  sat,  and  if  my  eyes  had  been  fifty  instead  of 
two,  I  should  have  found  an  excellent  use  for  all. 

We  pass  occasionally  clusters  of  huts  and  see  some- 
times a  farm  two  thousand  feet  above  the  fiord ;  but 
one  has  little  interest  for  weak  man  or  his  puny  affairs 
in  presence  of  the  sublime  and  wonderful  works  of 
nature.  Such  sheer  precipices,  such  woody  slopes, 
such  effects  of  light  and  shade !  It  is  as  though  they 
were  beheld  in  some  gigantic  vision.  It  is  wonderland. 
The  nerves  thrill  with  the  enchantment  of  the  brain. 


FIELD,  FOSS,  AND   FIORD.  5  I 

But  how  terrible  would  such  a  place  become  without 
the  glittering  transfiguration  of  the  sun !  At  night, 
seen  only  by  the  light  of  stars  and  moon,  the  scene 
must  be  fantastically  weird,  like  one  of  nature's  night- 
mares. 

At  the  head  of  Naerofiord  I  land  and  continue  my 
journey  in  a  sort  of  vehicle  which  is  sometimes  used  in 
place  of  a  carriole  on  good  mountain  roads.     It  is  a 
very  primitive  affair  with  four  low  wheels  and  scarcely 
any  perceptible  springs.     The  body  is  simply  a  huge 
box,  with  two  seats  having  backs  a  couple  of  feet  in 
height  and  covered  with  hide.    The  horses  are  attached 
by  wooden  shafts  instead  of  a  central  pole  and  traces 
as  with  us.     The  way  wound  along  a  raging  torrent  and 
up  a  deep  valley,  the  sides  of  which  rose  high  above  our 
heads.     One  mountain  was  an  immense  cone  of  steep, 
polished  gray  stone,  which  towered  proudly  above  the 
valley,  and  seemed  calculated  to  last  an  eternity.     The 
formation  of  this  peak  is  peculiar,  the  strata  of  one-half 
of  it  being  horizontal  and  those  of  the  other  vertical. 
Going  on,  we  seem  to  be  shut  in  by  the  abrupt  termi 
nation  of  the  valley,  but  nature  has  left  there  a  rather 
steep  hill,  up  which,  by  a  most  masterly  piece  of  engi- 
neering, a  road  has  been  constructed  by  a  Norwegian 
officer.     This  difficult  and  costly  undertaking  was  ac- 
complished by  means  of  eighteen  bends  of  solid  ma- 
sonry, thus  zigzagging  about  a  thousand  feet  upward  to 
a  plateau   which  connects  with   another  valley.     The 
road  doubles  or  rather  quadruples    upon    itself,    with 
scarcely  its  own  width  between,  in  a  distance  of  a  hun- 


$2  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

dred  feet.  On  both  sides  of  it  are  fine  waterfalls,  each 
about  four  hundred  feet  in  height,  so  that  in  making 
the  ascent  of  this  precipitous  portion  of  the  road,  when 
you  compare  the  falls  with  one  another,  the  element  of 
height  must  be  omitted. 

As  we  advance  the  valley  widens,  the  vegetation 
becomes  more  dense,  larger  cultivated  fields  and  more 
habitations  appear,  though  the  latter  all  seem  dilapi- 
dated. Oats  and  potatoes  meet  the  eye  and  much  hay 
is  being  harvested.  After  being  cut,  the  grass  is  spread 
upon  birch  twig  racks,  which  being  raised  a  few  feet 
from  the  ground,  prevent  wet  or  dampness  and  also 
allow  a  free  circulation  of  the  air,  so  that  with  the 
assistance  of  the  sun,  a  much  better  opportunity  for 
drying  is  afforded  than  by  our  process  of  curing  in  the 
United  States.  In  some  farms  where  the  ground  is 
very  steep,  a  long  wire  is  stretched  from  the  distant  hill- 
tops by  which  bundles  of  hay  are  sent  down  to  or  near 
the  barn,  thus  saving  much  arduous  transportation.  A 
drive  of  about  fifty  miles  brought  me  to  the  Hardanger 
fiord,  the  second  in  Norway  in  point  of  size  and  scenery, 
though  its  cataracts  and  glaciers  and  fertile  valleys,  and 
frequent  transitions  from  the  grand  and  sublime  to  the 
soft  and  lovely,  almost  entitle  it  to  the  first  considera- 
tion. 

The  most  remarkable  of  the  branches  of  this  great 
fiord  is  that  extending  some  twenty-five  miles  south- 
ward to  the  little  village  of  Odde.  Like  Naerofiord  it 
is  bounded  on  either  side  by  almost  unbroken  mountain 
walls  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet  in  height,  though  they  are 


FIELD,  FOSS,  AND  FIORD.  53 

less  steep  and  more  wooded  than  the  former.  There 
are  many  farms  and  rich  orchards  lying  in  narrow  strips 
along  the  lower  parts  of  these  mountains.  Here  and 
there  one  gets  a  peep  up  a  fairy  vale,  with  cataracts 
leaping  from  rock  to  rock  as  if  the  hills  were  embroi- 
dered with  silver  threads.  The  fiord  at  first  is  perhaps 
a  mile  in  width ;  the  water  is  of  a  dark  green  hue  and 
remarkably  cold,  being  fed  by  many  glacier  streams. 
We  have  a  magnificent  view  of  the  Folgefond  moun- 
tain with  its  shining  expanse  of  snow,  upon  the  right ; 
and  upon  the  left,  a  smiling  valley  with  clusters  of 
farms,  and  a  small  waterfall  which  makes  a  great  per- 
pendicular leap  at  an  altitude  of  about  2,000  feet.  This 
is  a  frequent  and  always  striking  feature  of  the  Norwe- 
gian landscape.  We  see  the  glorious  glaciers  of  the 
Folgefond  with  their  light  blue  ice  a  hundred  feet  in 
depth,  and  their  snow-fields  extending  for  miles — an 
enormous  winding-sheet  of  white. 

Odde  is  a  pretty  village  of  about  a  dozen  houses,  in 
one  of  which  I  was  most  hospitably  entertained  for  a 
few  days.  From  there  I  made  a  delightful  little  excur- 
sion up  the  Gromsdal  valley,  about  twenty  miles  south- 
east, by  an  excellent  road.  I  first  drove  around  a  large 
lake,  across  which  were  continually  to  be  had  splendid 
views  of  the  famous  Buerbrae  glacier,  with  its  immense 
wall  of  pale  blue  ice  descending  low  into  a  bright  fer- 
tile valley.  This  glacier,  which  has  been  forming  dur- 
ing the  past  half  century,  is  still  increasing  in  extent, 
and  threatens  to  destroy  the  farm  at  its  foot.  In  1870 
it  advanced  250  feet,  and  during  a  single  week  in  the 


54  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

following  year,  as  much  as  twelve  feet.  Its  lower  edge 
is  now  only  about  800  feet  above  the  lake.  Leaving 
the  latter,  I  sped  merrily  along  the  side  of  a  big  bub- 
bling brook  which  at  first  wound  through  a  vale  of  lux- 
uriantly lovely  vegetation  and  then  the  scene  suddenly 
changed  to  a  gorge  of  high  rocky  mountains,  with  a  lit- 
tle stunted  shrubbery  and  many  thundering  cataracts. 
This  gorge  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  grandest  in  Norway 
and  I  am  quite  ready  to  indorse  the  claim.  Yet  it 
would  be  difficult  to  give  specific  and  exact  reasons  for 
its  attractiveness.  Nothing  abounds  but  purple  rocks 
and  dwarfish  birches,  alternating  with  the  shivering 
sheen  of  mighty  cascades.  The  forms  of  the  hills  are 
most  diversified.  Throughout  its  length  the  canon  is 
nearly  choked  by  vast  avalanches  of  stone  which  the 
frost  has  started  from  the  cliffs — huge  boulders,  some 
of  them  thirty  and  even  forty  feet  square,  piled  to- 
gether in  a  complete  chaos  of  confusion,  or  else  rolled 
down  the  mountain  slopes,  very  Niagaras  of  stone.  A 
passage  for  the  road  has  even  had  to  be  blasted  through 
some  of  these  rock  floes.  A  waterfall  hard  by  is  nearly 
a  thousand  feet  in  height.  Its  companions  are  the  two 
beautiful  cataracts  of  Laathefoss,  which  blind  with 
their  spray  and  deafen  with  their  roar.  Two  other  fine 
cataracts,  one  of  them  500  feet  high  and  100  feet  wide, 
may  be  seen  from  the  same  spot.  A  few  miles  farther 
up  this  unique  gorge  the  government  has  selected  a 
spot  which  is  deemed  to  be  in  the  best  position  for  ob- 
taining a  view  of  the  great  Folgefond.  Upon  this  site 
is  erected  a  platform  which  supports  a  metal  Norwegian 


FIELD,  FOSS,  AND  FIORD.  $  5 

flag,  and  whence  can  be  seen  the  Folgefond,  appearing 
to  unfold  into  four  mountain  ridges.  First  come  the 
green  sub-hills  ;  next,  a  range  with  a  very  little  snow 
upon  it;  then  appears  a  crest  which  is  much  higher 
and  whiter;  and  finally  one  beholds  the  snow-capped 
outline  of  the  loftiest  peaks  or  rather  domes,  for  that, 
as  I  have  said,  is  the  form  assumed  by  nearly  all  the 
mountains  of  Norway.  A  most  beautiful  sight  was  the 
enormous  field  of  ermine  which  lay  extended  before 
my  entranced  eyes  ;  but  no,  I  will  not  call  it  ermine, 
for  this  specimen  of  nature's  dazzling  integrity  was 
never  stained.  The  picture  is  equal  to  any  in  the 
Tyrol. 

Another  day,  a  rainy  one,  not  being  suitable  for 
mountain  views,  but  quite  as  good,  if  not  better,  for 
observing  waterfalls,  was  employed  in  a  trip,  with  a 
guide,  to  what  may  perhaps  be  styled  the  lion  of  Nor- 
wegian cataracts,  the  Ringdalfoss  or  the  Rounded 
Waterfall,  so  named  from  its  general  appearance.  We 
first  row  four  miles  down  the  fiord,  with  splendid  spec- 
tacles of  snow,  rock  and  forest  continually  around. 
Then  we  land  and  climb  up  a  narrow  valley  along  the 
precipitous  banks  of  a  brawling  brook  skirted  by  fir 
trees.  Behind,  we  look  upon  the  summits  of  the  Folge- 
fond. In  a  couple  of  hours  we  reach  a  dilapidated 
farm-house,  the  owner  whereof  rents  us  his  skiff  in 
order  to  cross  a  large  lake,  at  the  further  extremity  of 
which  is  the  great  Ringdalfoss  waterfall.  Before  this 
is  reached,  however,  there  is  a  beautiful  double-fall 
which  alone  would  well  repay  the  troubles  of  the  rough 


56  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

ascent  of  the  valley.  The  lake  is  surrounded  by  lofty 
and  steep  slate  walls,  with  quartz  strata,  and  a  mingling 
also  of  purple  granite.  The  fall  consists  of  two  streams 
which  descending  from  different  parts  of  the  precipice 
join  each  other  about  two-thirds  of  the  distance  down, 
thus  making  a  perfectly-shaped  Y.  They  start  very 
sharply  defined  from  the  top  but  at  the  bottom  melt 
into  the  very  lightest  clouds  of  water-dust.  In  clear 
weather  of  course  this  spray  forms  rainbows  of  great 
beauty.  The  wedded  cascades  plunge  into  a  small  but 
very  deep  basin  and  before  reaching  the  lake  take  to- 
gether another  jump  of  perhaps  two  hundred  feet. 

The  Ringdalfoss  comes  with  a  tremendous  rush  over 
the  precipice  in  an  immense  body  of  water,  and  falls, 
850  feet  of  spray  and  foam,  into  "  a  gulf  profound  "  of 
dark  rocks,  and  thence  flows,  with  another  but  compara- 
tively low  leap  and  a  width  of  200  feet,  directly  into 
the  lake.  This  truly  magnificent  fall  is  fed  by  a  num- 
ber of  small  lakes  high  up  in  the  mountains  and  they 
in  turn  by  streams  flowing  from  the  ever-present  snow. 
You  can  land  and  scramble  over  heaps  of  debris  to  the 
very  foot  of  the  Ringdalfoss  where,  although  the  spray 
is  almost  blinding,  as  you  look  directly  upward  to  the 
ridge  of  rock,  the  water  appears  to  rush  far  out  and  to 
hang  for  an  instant  in  mid-air  as  if  uncertain  whether  it 
were  best  to  take  such  a  fearful  bound.  But  the  great 
law  of  gravitation  is  not  to  be  violated  and  down  it 
comes,  a  monstrous  avalanche  of  sparkling  snow,  and 
strikes  the  abyss  with  a  cry  of  thunder.  All  is  misty 
and  wet  and  dismal  around,  and  the  black  sombre  cliff 


FIELD,  FOSS,  AND  FIORD.  57 

towers  above  ;  but  down  below,  not  far  beneath  your 
feet,  are  the  placid  lake,  a  few  plots  of  cultivated  land, 
and  some  brightly-blooming  wild  flowers.  We  push  our 
boat  off  from  the  slate-shingle  shore  and  row  slowly 
back,  the  grand  old  fall,  touched  with  a  Protean  spirit, 
putting  on  a  different  aspect  at  the  separation  produced 
by  almost  every  dozen  additional  strokes  of  our  oars. 

Norway  is  the  fatherland  of  waterfalls.  In  summer 
many  of  them  have  too  little  water  to  produce  a  beauti- 
ful effect,  and  in  spring  and  winter,  when  the  rivers  and 
lakes  are  full,  it  is  often  dangerous  to  reach  the  falls 
because  of  the  terrible  avalanches  which  then  prevail. 
I  saw  many  interesting  proofs  of  the  power  of  frost  in 
tearing  down  mountains  and  hurling  the  fragments  far 
into  the  valleys.  Some  of  the  huge  boulders  must  have 
been  thrown  down  centuries  ago  judging  from  the  full- 
sized  trees  now  growing  upon  them  ;  while  others,  at 
present  perhaps  lying  in  the  midst  of  fertile  fields,  but  a 
few  months  ago  formed  the  surface  wall  of  the  neigh- 
boring mountain.  In  fact,  our  globe  is  gradually  and, 
owing  to  its  great  size,  of  course,  almost  imperceptibly 
altering  its  configuration  and  becoming  smoother  and 
more  rotund.  Two  grand  agents  are  constantly  at  work 
in  effecting  this  change.  These  are  (1)  denudation, 
which  is  always  abrading  and  carrying  to  a  lower  level 
the  exposed  surfaces,  and  (2)  an  internal  force,  like  that 
of  volcanoes,  which  is  raising  or  depressing  the  existing 
strata  or  bringing  unstratified  rock  to  the  exterior. 

In  order  to  reach  the  steamer  bound  for  the  sea- 
board city  of  Bergen,  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  be  rowed 


58  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

down  the  fiord  about  twenty-five  miles,  to  its  nearest 
calling-place.  Upon  arrival  the  steamer  proved  to  be 
quite  small,  and  was  crowded  with  passengers.  We 
stopped  at  many  hamlets.  There  seemed  to  be  very 
little  fertile  land  and  but  few  settlers.  Now  we  passed 
through  a  crooked  channel  scarcely  wider  than  the 
steamer ;  again  we  were  in  an  almost  land-locked  bay, 
with  dark  bluffs  frowning  upon  us.  We  passed  many 
fishing-smacks  at  anchor  near  the  land  and,  off-shore, 
several  fleets  of  small  boats  which  were  engaged  in 
"  drifting  "  for  herring.  These  boats  frequent  the  en- 
tire coast  and  prove  excellent  sea-craft.  The  building 
of  them  is  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  income  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Hardanger  fiord. 

We  had  been  for  some  time  steering  directly  to  the 
north  when,  on  suddenly  rounding  a  headland,  we  saw 
before  us  a  long  line  of  white  warehouses  with  mighty 
masses  of  rock  rising  behind  them  ;  a  great  fleet  of 
quaint  looking  boats  and  a  dozen  or  more  little  steamers 
in  front  ;  a  fort  upon  each  of  two  long  narrow  penin- 
sulas, one  on  the  right  and  the  other  on  the  left  ;  and 
beyond,  in  a  semi-circle,  the  houses  and  churches  of 
the  second  city  of  Norway — Bergen.  I  at  once  landed 
and  without  difficulty  succeeded  in  finding  a  very  good 
hotel. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Two  Old  Norse  Cities. 

Bergen  is  situated  in  about  the  same  degree  of  lati- 
tude as  Christiania.  Founded  some  eight  hundred 
years  ago,  it  was  for  a  long  time  the  capital  of  Norway 
and  a  place  of  great  commercial  importance,  but  now 
its  trade  is  decreasing  at  about  the  same  rate  as  that  at 
which  the  trade  of  Christiania  is  increasing.  To-day  it 
has  a  population  of  40,000.  Very  many  of  the  houses, 
mostly  built  of  timber,  and  with  sharply-peaked  roofs, 
are  placed  with  their  gable-ends  toward  the  streets. 
The  latter  are  very  irregular  though  well-paved.  Some 
are  quite  steep  and  all  such  have  a  special  track  with 
stones  tilted  up  so  as  to  afford  a  footing  for  the  horses. 
In  wandering  through  the  chief  thoroughfares,  which 
are  filled  with  a  great  variety  of  shops,  one  is  often 
startled  by  the  appearance  of  policemen  garbed  almost 
the  same  as  those  met  with  in  London.  Formerly  they 
had  here  a  species  of  night  watchmen  armed  with  a 
most  villainous  and  death-dealing  weapon  which  (like 
too  many  of  the  New  York  policemen)  they  were  not 
slow  to  employ  upon  slight  pretexts.  This  weapon  was 
a  staff  similar  to  the  heavy  mace  used  in  the  days  of 
chivalry.       It  was  about  four  feet  in  length,  having  at 


60  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

the  end  a  huge  ball  of  brass  set  with  spikes  half  an  inch 
in  length.  This  beautiful  little  toy  was  termed  by  the 
would-be-facetious  a  "  morning  star." 

Bergen  has  much  of  a  German  aspect.  This  is 
owing  to  the  fact  that  for  many  years  the  Germans  held 
here  the  monopoly  of  the  northern  fishing  trade.  In 
walking  through  the  market  I  saw  nothing  for  sale  save 
fish,  potatoes,  and  firewood.  The  people,  when  ordering 
their  dinners,  never  need  to  imitate  the  example  of  the 
Catholics  in  considering  what  day  of  the  week  it  may 
be,  for  it  seems  to  be  always  Friday  and  fast-day  fare 
with  them.  The  chief  trade  of  Bergen  is  in  dried  cod- 
fish (called  stock-fish),  cod-liver  oil  and  herrings.  The 
huge  warehouses,  where  the  dried  fish  are  corded  up 
like  wood,  face  upon  a  broad  street  parallel  with  the 
harbor,  and  extend  a  long  distance  backward,  having 
only  very  narrow  passage-ways  between.  It  is  unfortu- 
nate that  these  should  all  be  built  of  wood,  for  if  they 
and  their  tinder-like  contents  should  once  get  on  fire,  it 
would  be  next  to  impossible  to  save  them.  In  fact,  the 
same  might  justly  be  said  of  all  Bergen,  which  has  been 
several  times  nearly  consumed  by  fire.  Though  the 
warehouses  exhale  "  a  very  ancient  and  fish-like  smell," 
this  alone  was  not  a  sufficiently  great  obstacle  to  deter 
an  inquiring  mind  from  the  pursuit  of  knowledge. 

The  codfish  are  sent  to  the  Mediterranean  ports  ; 
the  herrings  are  mostly  consumed  in  the  Baltic  ;  while 
the  cod-liver  oil  goes  to  all  parts  of  Europe  and  America. 
Much  of  the  fish  trade  of  Norway  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
merchants  of  Bergen,  who    export   nearly    every  year 


TWO    OLD   A'ORSE    CITIES.  6 1 

more  than  $2,000,000  worth  of  codfish,  600,000  barrels 
of  pickled  herrings,  and  20,000  barrels  of  cod-liver  oil. 
Along  the  wharves  one  sees  many  of  the  great  boats 
which  are  engaged  in  bringing  the  fish  from  the  Loffo- 
den  islands  and  Finmark,  the  best  fishing  grounds. 
These  boats  called  Jachts  (whence  our  modern  Yacht), 
are  very  curiously  constructed.  They  range  from  fifty 
to  two  hundred  tons  in  burden,  are  very  broad,  and 
have  a  mast  in  the  centre  which  supports  a  huge  square 
sail  and  a  small  top-sail.  Their  bows  are  curved  very 
high,  so  that  the  helmsman  may  see  them  when  the 
intermediate  space  is  filled  with  a  large  cargo.  When 
sailing  before  the  wind  these  jachts  need  only  a  bank 
or  two  of  oars  to  make  them  exactly  resemble  the  gal- 
leys of  the  old  piratical  Northmen. 

The  chief  attraction  of  Bergen  is  found  in  its  pic- 
turesque and  quaint  appearance  and  situation.  It  is  so 
uneven  and  so  surrounded  by  mountains  that  you  fre- 
quently  find  the  outlines  of  a  street  statue  stand  out 
upon  them  as  against  a  background.  This  peculiar 
effect  is  also  to  be  seen  at  Innspruck,  in  the  Tyrol. 
There  is  in  Bergen  a  museum,  containing  a  small 
though  excellent  collection  of  mementoes  of  the  North- 
men ;  a  cabinet  of  natural  history  ;  and  a  picture-gal- 
lery. In  the  streets  one  occasionally  sees  some  of  the 
old  fantastic  costumes  of  the  peasantry,  though  these 
are  now  generally  reserved  for  Sundays,  holidays  or 
weddings.  In  the  jewellers'  shops  I  noticed  several 
gilt  and  silver  crowns,  which  in  my  innocent  ignorance 
I  imagined  had  been  placed  on  sale,  or  perhaps  pawned, 


62  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

by  some  Viking  now  retired  from  business.  I  after- 
wards learned  that  these  were  worn  by  brides  for  sev- 
eral days  after  the  wedding,  and  that  the  nuptial  festivi- 
ties were  finally  terminated  by  dancing  until  these  orna- 
mental badges  of  dignity  fell  off, — a  rather  difficult  ac- 
complishment, were  it  not  that  they  are  so  cleverly  con- 
structed that  upon  the  withdrawal  of  a  certain  pin  they 
at  once  fall  of  themselves  to  the  ground.  Posted  about 
the  city  were  bills  giving  notice  that  Mr.  Ole  Bull  would 
give  a  series  of  concerts.  This  celebrated  and  lamented 
violinist  was  born  here  and  resided  at  the  time  of  his 
death  in  the  suburbs.  Bergen  itself  cannot  be  a  very 
healthy  place  in  which  to  live  as  the  proximity  of  the 
mountains  renders  it  very  subject  to  rain.  In  fact,  they 
have  here  over  two  hundred  days  of  rain  during  the 
year,  and  the  official  statistics  place  the  annual  fall  at 
seventy  inches.  Bergen,  however,  impressed  me  as  what 
a  Yankee  would  term  a  "  regular  live  town."  The 
stores  were  stocked  with  the  greatest  variety  of  goods, 
and  the  people  jostled  one  another  in  the  streets  in  the 
eager  rush  and  turmoil  of  business  activity. 

A  fortnightly  line  of  steamers  is  established  between 
Bergen  and  New  York,  and  frequent  communication  is 
maintained  with  all  the  coast  towns  of  Norway.  Two 
lines  of  steamers  run  to  North  Cape,  and  another 
goes  still  farther,  to  Vadso,  near  the  Russian  boundary, 
a  distance  of  about  2,000  miles  from  Christiania.  In 
selecting  one  of  these  lines  and  taking  my  passage  for 
the  North  Cape,  I  must  confess  to  having  felt  something 
of  a  flutter  of  the  heart  ;  for  I  was  thus  committed  to 


TWO   OLD  NORSE   CITIES.  63 

the  extreme  north  of  Europe,  past  the  Arctic  Circle, 
out  of  reach  of  most  of  the  comforts  of  civilized  life, 
also  beyond  its  fevered  bustle,  away  up  to  the  homes  of 
the  Lapps  and  the  Reindeer,  even  to  the  veritable  land 
of  the  Aurora  Borealis  and  the  Midnight  Sun. 

I  found  but  few  passengers  in  a  fine  iron  steamer  of 
some  500  tons  burden,  which  was  built  at  Bergen. 
Our  route  was  nearly  due  north  between  the  main  land 
and  the  islands  which  form,  as  it  were,  a  gigantic  break- 
water along  the  entire  western  coast  of  Norway.  The 
navigation  is  at  all  times  intricate  and  dangerous  but 
becomes  especially  so  in  foggy  weather.  Two  pilots 
are  taken  the  entire  distance  from  Bergen  to  Hammer- 
fest.  The  steamers  are  guided  through  the  mazes  of 
the  coast  islands  by  a  pilot  on  the  bridge,  who  simply 
motions  with  his  hands  to  the  helmsman  "  starboard  " 
or  "  port."  Most  of  the  distance  to  North  Cape  is  per- 
formed in  the  fiords  but  a  part,  especially  in  the  more 
northerly  section,  is  exposed  to  the  full  sweep  of  the 
North  Atlantic.  The  outer  fringe  of  islands  is  well- 
lighted  throughout  the  entire  length  of  the  Norwegian 
coast,  and  the  marine  charts  are  admirably  drawn 
after  the  most  accurate  surveys.  The  islands  and  islets 
sometimes  appear  to  be  only  projections  of  the  main- 
land, though  a  nearer  approach  dispels  the  illusion  ;  or 
again,  they  lie  so  closely  together  that  no  outlet  seems 
possible,  till  another  turn  shows  an  opening  between 
them,  with  a  glimpse  of  the  sea  beyond.  The  steamers 
run  throughout  the  year,  being  provided  widi  steam- 
pipes  and  stoves  against  the  severe  cold  of  the  winter. 


64  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

The  cargo  taken  up  the  coast  consists  of  groceries  and 
various  manufactured  articles,  and  that  taken  down 
is  composed  of  fish  and  oil. 

The  first  town  of  any  great  importance  at  which  we 
stop  is  Christiansand,  situated  upon  three  small  islands 
which  together  form  a  completely  land-locked  harbor. 
The  population  is  but  7,000.  We  drop  anchor  among 
a  few  ships  and  many  small  fishing  smacks.  The  shore 
is  lined  with  huge  fish-warehouses,  some  of  which  are 
five  stories  in  height.  I  ask  the  captain  if  there  is  any- 
thing special  to  be  seen  on  shore,  and  he  replies  "  yes, 
a  park  with  three  trees,  a  few  rocks,  and  some  dried 
fish." 

Christiansand  seems  to  have  a  character  of  its  own 
apart  from  other  Norwegian  towns.  It  is  so  irregularly 
built  that  no  two  houses  appear  to  be  upon  the  same 
level.  Some  are  reached  by  ascending,  others  by  de- 
scending, long  flights  of  stairs.  In  short,  so  diversified 
is  the  surface  of  this  town  that  a  complete  view  of  it  is 
impossible.  I  pass  a  fine  large  wooden  church  whose 
two  clock-dials  are  at  least  double-faced  enough  to  give 
me  a  widely  diverging  choice  of  time.  The  captain,  I 
found,  had  been  guilty  of  a  libel  on  the  park,  for  it  con- 
tained many  trees  which,  though  small,  made  an  agree- 
able shade,  and  there  were  also  many  beds  of  beautiful 
flowers.  It  was  a  fruitful  little  oasis  in  a  genuine  desert 
of  rock.  Children,  as  is  usual  in  Norwegian  towns, 
swarmed  everywhere,  and  the  men  would  stop  in  the 
streets  and  look  at  me  with  as  much  curiosity  as  if  I 
had  been  a  North  American  Indian  in  full  war  paint 


TWO   OLD  NORSE    CITIES.  65 

and  feathers,  or  as  though  Europeans  had  not  been 
travelling  in  Norway  for  a  century  past.  After  receiv- 
ing on  board  a  little  cargo,  we  steam  out  of  the  harbor 
and  soon  are  headed  again  towards  the  north.  It  was 
the  height  of  the  summer  herring  fishery  and  we  passed 
a  great  fleet  of  smacks,  some  going  up  empty  to  the 
grounds,  others  coming  down  with  their  cargoes.  The 
boats  make  a  very  quaint  appearance  at  sea,  recalling 
to  my  mind  that  of  the  Japanese  junks.  Some  of  them 
have  only  the  large  square  sails  like  the  jachts  at  Ber- 
gen. These  sail  well  before  the  wind  but  are  so  shal- 
low as  to  fall  much  away  when  beating  to  windward. 
Others,  most  picturesque  of  all,  are  arrayed  with  main- 
sail, top-sail,  and  three  jibs.  Just  before  we  reached 
Trondjhem,  at  midnight,  the  light  was  sufficiently  clear 
and  strong  to  enable  me  to  write  a  letter  upon  the  deck 
of  the  steamer. 

Like  Bergen,  Trondjhem  was  for  a  long  time  the 
capital  of  Norway,  but  now  it  is  the  third  city,  its  popu- 
lation being  about  21,000.  Four  times  has  the  whole 
of  it  been  laid  in  ashes,  being  built  of  wood,  though  in 
future  all  new  buildings  must  be  made  of  brick  or 
stone.  The  great  glory  of  Trondjhem  is  its  old  cathe- 
dral where  the  kings  have  always  been  crowned.  I  turn 
from  my  hotel,  a  very  comfortable  one  arranged  some- 
what in  the  English  style,  into  the  main  street,  which 
runs  from  the  harbor  directly  to  the  cathedral,  passing 
the  palace  where  the  kings  reside  during  the  coronation 
ceremonies,  a  plain  two-story  barrack  of  wood.  Then 
I  reach  the  market-place,  which  is  simply  the  intersec- 


66  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

tion  of  two  streets  filled  with  portable  booths  and  carts 
of  fish  and  vegetables.     As  in  Bergen,  you  look  from 
the  centre  of  the  streets  up  to  the  hills  on  three  sides, 
and  on   the  fourth,  out   upon  the  green  waters  of  the 
fiord.     Part  of  the  cathedral,  which  stands  at  one  ex- 
tremity of  the  city,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  cemetery,  is 
in  ruins,  caused  by  the  devastating  fires  which  have  so 
often  visited  the  place.    The  work  of  restoration  is  now 
in  progress.      What  we  see  of  the  old  portions,  which 
are  in   the   simple   style  of  Norman  architecture  with 
semi-circular  arches,  massive  columns  and  varied  sculp- 
tures, gives  an  idea  of  the  magnificence  of  the  cathe- 
dral when  entire.    It  was  then  350  feet  in  length  and  85 
in  breadth,  but  two  chapels  increased  the  width  of  one 
front  to  140  feet.     It  is  cruciform  and  is  built  of  a  dark 
slate-colored  stone  found  in   the  vicinity.     Parts  of  it 
are  seven  hundred  years  old  and  contain  most  curious 
statues  and  busts. 

This  cathedral  was  first  built  as  a  shrine  over  a  cer- 
tain Olaf,  the  patron  saint  of  Norway.  Olaf  was  an  old 
Norse  king,  who,  dying  at  the  moment  of  victory  over 
some  rude  tribes  of  the  north,  was  afterwards  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  martyr  and  worshipped  accordingly. 
Pilgrimages  were  soon  made  to  his  grave  from  all  parts 
of  Scandinavia,  and  so  great  was  the  veneration  in 
which  he  was  held,  and  so  widely  was  he  known,  that 
churches  were  erected  to  his  memory  even  in  Constan- 
tinople. The  present  king  of  Sweden  and  Norway, 
Oscar  II.,  was  crowned,  together  with  his  queen,  in  this 
cathedral,  in  1S72.     The   restoration  which  progresses 


TWO   OLD   NORSE   CITIES.  6j 

very  slowly,  owing  to  the  lack  of  subscriptions,  is  of  a 
much  lighter  and  more  graceful  type  of  architecture, 
closely  resembling  the  Gothic,  with  its  sharply  pointed 
arches  and  clustered  columns.  It  does  not  seem  to 
harmonize  well  with  the  great  size,  elevation,  simplicity 
and  strength  of  the  old  Norman  style. 

Nearly  all  the  graves  about  the  cathedral  were  cov- 
ered with  vases  of  flowers,  most  of  which  were  quite 
fresh,  and  each  of  the  plots  contained  benches  which 
seemed  to  have  been  diverted  from  their  original  pur- 
pose to  that  of  public  lounging-places,  before  and  after 
the  neighboring  religious  service.  I  was  surprised  and 
shocked,  but  afterwards  learned  that  Norway  and  Swe- 
den, following  the  example  of  Turkey,  use  their  necrop- 
oli  as  pleasure  parks  in  which  the  people  sit  and  sleep, 
talk  and  joke,  eat  and  drink.  And  in  truth  these  burial- 
grounds  seem  better  adapted  to  the  amusement  of  the 
living  than  the  repose  of  the  dead,  for  they  are  crossed 
by  paths,  ornamented  with  groves  and  flower-beds,  and 
provided  with  sufficient  seats  to  accommodate  their 
vivacious  visitors. 

In  returning  to  my  hotel  I  met  a  funeral  procession. 
I  had  noticed  that  the  street  was  covered  with  fir  boughs, 
but  supposed  it  was  in  honor  of  some  church  fete. 
First  came  an  open  hearse  drawn  by  two  horses  led  by 
grooms,  all  draped  in  the  deepest  black.  The  coffin, 
however,  was  completely  covered  with  flowers  of  all 
colors,  so  much  so  in  fact  that  it  could  not  be  seen. 
Behind,  four  abreast,  all  in  black  clothes,  with  silk  hats, 
walked  the  male  relatives  and  friends.     In  Norway,  as 


68  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

in  Denmark,  women  never  appear  as  mourners  in  fun- 
eral processions,  not  even  at  the  burial  of  members  of 
their  own  sex. 

There  is  a  church  in  Trondjhem  similar  to  one  in 
Copenhagen,  which  is  worthy  of  a  visit.  The  congre- 
gation have  evidently  increased  ■ —  so  much  so,  that 
rather  than  erect  a  new  edifice,  they  have  built  upon 
each  side  two  rows  of  pews,  like  opera-boxes,  reaching 
nearly  to  the  ceiling.  Each  of  these  boxes  is  entered 
directly  from  the  outside,  as  is  the  pulpit,  which  ex- 
tends a  long  distance  from  the  wall  into  the  body  of  the 
church.  Above  and  behind  the  pulpit  is  a  huge  carved 
altar-piece  which  is  colored  in  very  tawdry  style.  This 
church  bears  date  1729.  Besides  the  expected  churches 
there  is  a  good  museum,  library,  and  reading-room  in 
the  city.  The  country  about  Trondjhem  is  very  fertile, 
producing  large  harvests  of  oats,  corn,  potatoes  and  hay. 

To  travel  by  the  railway  to  Christiania  uses  up  the 
daylight  of  two  days,  the  trains  not  running  at  night. 
This  singular  custom  is  admirable  for  those  who  wish 
to  see  the  country,  but  must  prove  rather  disagreeable 
to  merchants  who  desire  to  use  dispatch  both  in  travel- 
ing and  in  forwarding  goods.  From  Trondjhem  there 
is  a  very  fine  road,  with  good  posting  stations,  across 
Norway  and  Sweden  to  Sundsvall,  a  town  on  the  Gulf 
of  Bothnia.  This  road  is  about  350  miles  in  length. 
From  Sundsvall  to  Stockholm,  the  distance  by  steamer 
cannot  be  more  than  300  miles.  At  Trondjhem  Nor- 
way has  narrowed  to  something  like  eighty  miles  in 
width,  and  from  here  to  Tromsoe  it  is  a  mere  strip  of 


TWO   OLD  NORSE    CITIES.  69 

land,  or  rock  rather,  bordering  the  ocean.  About  lati- 
tude sixty-nine  degrees  north,  the  boundary  line  dips  a 
little  further  into  the  interior,  embracing  the  district 
styled  Finmark,  but  soon  again  it  returns  northward 
and  so  continues  on  to  the  shores  of  the  Polar  Sea. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Off  and  On   the  Coast. 

One's  sensations  in  traversing  distant  and  little-fre- 
quented lands  are  often  curious,  sometimes  amusing. 
I  have  already  referred  to  the  state  of  mind  in  which  I 
left  Bergen,  with  the  psychical  effect  of  the  steamer's 
prow  headed  toward  the  mysterious  Pole.  In  depart- 
ing from  Trondjhem,  although  that  city  was  so  much 
nearer  my  goal,  yet  it  rather  seemed  as  though  I  were 
leaving  the  frontiers  of  the  civilized  world,  and  simply 
going  to  a  few  advanced  stations  whither  pioneers  had 
but  recently  ventured,  to  see  if  there  might  be  aught  in 
the  land  to  tempt  a  following. 

However,  we  were  soon  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nam- 
sen,  one  of  the  best  salmon  rivers  in  the  country,  and 
entirely  leased  to  English  sportsmen,  as  indeed  are 
nearly  all  the  other  good  shooting  and  fishing  localities. 
Norway  is,  or  at  least  was  a  few  years  ago,  a  genuine 
sportsman's  paradise.  When  I  heard  of  the  size  and 
"gameness  "  of  the  fish,  and  of  the  varieties  and  num- 
ber of  the  birds  and  quadrupeds  it  produces,  I  much 
regretted  that  my  batter ie  de  la  chasse  was  far  away  at 
home,  and  that  I  had  simply  come  to  "spy  out  the 
land." 


OFF  AND   ON   THE   COAST.  "J  I 

The  next  day  we  passed  a  famous  mountain  called 
Torghattan,  which  is  of  bare  rock  and  resembles  in 
shape  a  sailor's  "  sou'-wester  hat."  It  is  a  grand  dome- 
shaped  mass  about  eight  hundred  feet  in  height  and  is 
noted  for  a  natural  orifice  or  tunnel  which  passes  quite 
through  it  from  side  to  side.  The  rock  is  gneiss  and 
the  opening,  which  has  been  produced  by  the  disinte- 
gration of  a  vein  of  mica,  is  520  feet  long,  60  feet  wide, 
and  100  feet  high.  Its  walls  are  quite  smooth,  but  its 
roof  is  jagged,  while  its  bottom  consists  of  sharp-pointed 
pieces  of  granite.  Upon  the  mainland  the  mountains 
also  lie  in  jagged  and  irregular  groups.  They  are  bare 
rocks,  many  of  them  with  patches  of  snow  upon  their 
summits.  The  scene  is  utterly  desolate,  and  yet  in 
every  green  patch  of  fifty  square  feet  I  was  sure  to  see 
a  fisherman's  hut.  The  rocks  of  these  very  mountains, 
however,  purpled  by  the  setting  sun,  and  with  their 
snow  fields  of  a  like  delicate  tinge,  with  a  foreground 
of  dark  water,  form  a  really  magnificent  sight. 

In  Norway  I  frequently  contrasted  the  appearance 
of  mountains  when  viewed  from  lakes  or  the  sea  with 
that  presented  from  valleys,  and  found  that  the  advan- 
tage of  having  a  sharply-defined  water-line  in  a  moun- 
tain view  is  very  great.  If  it  be  allowable  to  compare 
the  works  of  Nature  with  those  of  Art,  I  should  liken 
the  elements  of  majesty  and  repose,  expressed  in  the 
Norwegian  Alps,  to  the  same  qualities  produced  by 
means  of  long  level  lines  contrasted  with  perpendicular 
or  nearly  perpendicular  lines,  in  the  ancient  architecture 
of  Egypt. 


72  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

We  were  now  coasting  along  that  province  of  Nor- 
way called  Nordland.     This  extends  in  a  longitudinal 
direction  for  about  fifty  miles  and  is  from  forty  to  sixty 
miles  in  width.     Its  population  is  estimated  at  100,000. 
Though  its  interior  has  not  yet  been   thoroughly  ex- 
plored, it  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  interesting 
parts  of  the  country.      It  contains  huge  mountains,  im- 
mense   glaciers,    vast   stalactite   caverns,    subterranean 
rivers,  marble  hills,  iron  and  silver  ores,  great  falls,  and 
much  wild  and   rugged  as  well  as    soft  and   graceful 
scenery.      At  a  little  village  where  we  stopped  were 
many  barrows — ancient  stone  monuments  arranged  in 
concentric  circles  somewhat  similar  to  those  at  Stone- 
henge  in  Wiltshire,  England.      The  origin  of  these  has 
been  the  subject  of  much  discussion.     After  still  closer 
study  they  are  doubtless  destined  to  throw  light  upon 
the  early  history  of  the  country.       To  the  northeast  we 
see  the  snow  mountains  of  Svartisen,  with  their  giant 
glaciers  glittering  in  the  brilliant  rays  of  the  sun. 

There  would  seem  to  be  three  grand  glacier  systems 
in  Norway.  The  most  extensive  is  that  of  the  Justedal 
range,  lying  north  of  the  Sogne  fiord.  This  covers  an 
area  of  about  eighty  square  miles.  The  lower  edge  of 
its  snow-and-ice  fields  averages  about  4,000  feet  above 
sea-level,  though  two  of  them  descend,  the  one  to  400, 
the  other  to  150,  feet  above  the  same  plane.  The 
greatest  altitude  of  this  range  is  6,500  feet.  The  Svar- 
tisen, which  ranks  second  in  point  of  size,  extending 
along  the  coast  for  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  is  believed 
to  cover  a  surface  of  seventy  square  miles.    The  greater 


OFF  AND   ON   THE    COAST.  J I 

part  of  it  lies  within  the  Arctic  Circle.  The  third  and 
last  glacier  system  is  that  lying  near  the  Hardanger  fiord 
— the  Folgefond — which  is  over  5,000  feet  in  height, 
but  only  covers  about  fifteen  square  miles. 

Steaming  up  a  beautiful  fiord,  we  anchor  near  the 
townlet  of  Mo.  I  go  on  shore  in  a  long  narrow  boat 
which 'is  turned  up  at  each  end  like  the  birch  canoes  01 
the  American  Indians.  It  is  Sunday  and  I  am  going  to 
church.  Scene  on  the  right  :  many  large  boats  arriving 
at  the  landing  filled  with  people  all  clad  in  their  best 
clothes,  as  is  customary  on  the  Sabbath  in  other  Chris- 
tian countries.  Scene  on  the  left  :  a  small  whale  amus- 
ing himself  by  swallowing  some  shoals  of  herrings,  with 
flocks  of  sea-birds  hovering  in  the  air  above  ready  to 
dart  upon  any  that  might  perchance  escape  the  capa- 
cious maw  of  the  marine  monster,  lashing  the  water  as 
if  there  he  were  undisputed  monarch.  I  walk  through 
a  village  of  perhaps  fifty  dwellings,  most  of  them  mere 
wooden  huts  with  turf  roofs,  a  few  being  frame  houses 
painted  red.  The  winding  road  is  filled  with  people 
going  in  the  same  direction  as  myself — namely,  to  the 
kirke.  This  I  find  to  be  a  large  red  edifice  with  long 
windows  and  an  odd  cupola,  built  of  logs  morticed  at 
the  corners  and  the  seams  wadded  with  moss.  There 
is  no  sexton  in  attendance,  and  so  I  walk  in  and  seat 
myself  on  the  women's  side,  for  the  men  occupy  one 
side  and  the  women  the  other  in  a  Norwegian  church. 
My  apparently  mistaken  situation  seemed,  however,  to 
much  disturb  a  few  coy  little  maidens  sitting  near. 
With  their  restless   blue  eyes   and   fair   hair  combed 


74  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

straight  back  from  the  forehead  and  half  concealed 
beneath  gay-colored  bandannas,  they  certainly  were  very 
bewitching.  But  while  in  the  presence  of  heavenly 
glories  it  was  clearly  morally  obligatory  on  me  to  with- 
stand the  fascination  of  those  that,  however  beautifully 
feminine,  were  still  earthly.  So  I  endeavored  to  pre- 
serve a  stately  and  severe  demeanor,  no  easy  task  under 
the  conditions.  Even  the  sermon  in  which  I  at  last 
despairingly  sought  refuge  from  the  varied  seductions 
of  the  charming  creatures,  failed  me,  for,  owing  to  the 
rapidity  of  the  worthy  pastor's  delivery  and  my  own 
scanty  stock  of  Norsk,  I  could  hardly  understand  a 
single  sentence.  I  have  mentally  vowed  never  again  to 
endeavor  to  rival  the  hero  of  "  The  Pirates  of  Pen- 
zance "  in  my  doughty  devotion  to  duty. 

Within,  the  cruciform  church  was  of  plain  deal  with 
a  narrow  gallery  running  entirely  around  it.  Before 
the  altar,  with  its  large  gaudy  paintings,  stood  the  pas- 
tor in  a  black  gown  and  black  stockings.  Around  his 
neck  he  wore  a  white  ruffed  collar  standing  out  some- 
what after  the  style  of  those  which  we  see  in  the  pict- 
ures of  good  Queen  Bess.  He  was  engaged  apparently 
in  the  confirmation  of  several  members  of  his  flock,  for 
he  repeated  some  ordinances,  placing  his  hands  upon 
the  head  of  each  person  at  the  altar,  and  afterwards 
shook  hands  with  all. 

The  clergy  of  Norway  are  learned  men,  as  they 
have  to  pass  severe  examinations  before  being  ordained. 
The  average  salary  they  receive  is  about  $1,000  per 
annum.     Many  of  the  women  were  pretty,  though  all 


OFF  AND    ON   THE    COAST.  ?$ 

those  of  middle  age  gave  unmistakable  signs  of  lives  of 
hardship  and  exposure.  The  men  had  the  appearance 
of  hardy  toilers  of  the  sea.  They  were  clad  in  oil-skin 
breeches  and  pea-jackets,  with  tarpaulin  hats.  What 
surprised  me  was  the  continual  going  in  and  out  of 
both  men  and  women  during  the  service.  There  were 
many  chants  and  responses,  and  the  pastor  exchanged 
his  black  for  a  white  gown,  somewhat  after  the  manner 
of  the  Episcopal  ministers.  They  sang  many  hymns,  a 
man  standing  near  the  altar,  leading.  These  were  ren- 
dered apparently  from  memory,  both  words  and  melody, 
for  very  few  had  any  books.  The  singing  was  not  alto- 
gether unmusical,  though  many  of  the  women's  voices 
were  quite  harsh  and  sharp.  After  the  singing,  which 
was  continued  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  the  pastor 
harangued  them  for  an  equally  long  period,  and  then 
the  morning  service  was  concluded.  It  had  doubtless 
been  devout,  but  a  certain  new-comer  had  found  it  also 
dull  and  dismal. 

Boat-building  seemed  to  be  the  chief  employment 
of  the  population  of  Mo.  Their  boats,  built  of  pine, 
are  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  in  length,  and  being  sharp 
at  each  end,  are  admirably  adapted  to  brave  the  surf. 
The  villagers  apparently  do  not  want  for  a  modicum  of 
amusement  to  ease  their  toil.  In  returning  to  the 
steamer  I  was  somewhat  startled  at  seeing  an  oil  paint- 
ing attached  to  the  exterior  of  a  large  house.  It  was  a 
representation  of  two  negresses.  The  one  was  a  mid- 
dle-aged woman  adorned  with  gold  earrings,  locket, 
watch    and  chain,  and  dressed    in    a   brown  silk  that 


"/ '6  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

would  make  Worth  die  of  mortification  and  envy.  The 
other  figure  was  that  of  a  little  girl  draped  in  white 
satin,  with  a  necklace  of  immense  pearls,  and  carrying 
a  parasol.  I  of  course  appreciated  the  taste  in  the 
selection  of  jewels  :  yellow  gold  for  the  brown  silk,  and 
pearls  for  the  white  satin.  In  the  background  were  a 
piano  with  music,  and  a  parrot  upon  his  perch.  I 
looked  at  the  grinning  bystanders  for  a  pantomimic 
interpretation  thereof,  and  they  pointed  to  a  bill  posted 
upon  the  house,  which  began  in  good  Norsk  (but  only 
fair  English)  "  Kom  og  se  !  "  This  was  evidently 
"Come  and  see."  It  was  repeated  twice,  and  then 
followed  some  explanatory  matter  which  I  could  not 
decipher,  though  towards  the  end  a  single  line  threw 
a  coruscating  light  around  the  whole.  This  was  "  Fra 
Mobilabama  ved  Mississippi-Floden.  12  skill."  I 
now  understood  that  there  was  a  highly  moral  ethno- 
graphical show  in  town,  nothing  less  than  two  negresses 
from  Mobile,  Alabama,  near  {sic)  the  Mississippi  River. 
The  admittance  fee  was  inexorably  placed  at  four 
cents. 

The  moral  reflections  in  which  I  indulged  suggested 
to  me  that  there  was  scarcely  a  place  on  earth  without 
some  approximation,  however  distant,  to  a  "show." 
Here  were  these  dark  vagrants,  mother  and  child,  per- 
haps, whose  ancestry  flourished  in  the  heart  of  Africa, 
making  a  living  out  of  their  complexion  and  advertis- 
ing their  natural  pigment  on  the  verge  of  the  Arctic 
Circle  and  almost  within  the  shadow  of  the  Pole. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Crossing  the  Arctic  Circle. 

We  returned  down  the  fiord  and  once  again  directed 
our  prow  toward  the  north.  We  passed  many  interest- 
ing mountains,  some  of  them  piled  mass  upon  mass, 
others  sloping  as  if  they  were  of  molten  lead  and  about 
to  rush  away.  The  strata  of  some  were  tilted  in  every 
conceivable  direction,  as  if  they  had  been  thrown  up 
from  a  volcano,  and  like  lava,  suddenly  become  cool 
and  stiff.  We  could  easily  accept  the  statement  that 
they  were  formed  at  the  creation  of  the  world, — for  no 
experience  in  world-making  could  have  begotten  such 
evolutionless  monsters.  As  usual,  wherever  there  was 
a  patch  of  vegetation  there  also  a  hut  appeared,  and 
wherever  three  or  four  huts  were  visible,  small  fleets  of 
fishing-smacks  were  to  be  seen  lying  at  anchor.  We 
now  began  to  observe  many  flocks  of  sea-birds,  consist- 
ing chiefly  of  gulls  and  ducks.  But  when  the  eye  was 
not  thus  distracted,  it  everywhere  lit  upon  grim  savage 
mountains  covered  with  snow,  and  low  bare  rocks  rising 
from  the  sea.  It  was  grand  scenery,  but  without  the 
frequent  contrast  of  bright  wooded  valleys  and  soft  fer- 
tile plains,  became  at  length  absolutely  dispiriting. 

We  glide  swiftly  on  past   the  ever-changing  coast. 


78  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

We  leave  behind  the  island  of  Lovunen  with  its  great 
dark  sugar-loaf  summit  towering  up  from  the  water. 
We  pass  the  Threnen  Islands,  four  sharp  little  peaks 
rising  abruptly  from  the  sea,  like  The  Needles  of  the 
Ensrlish  Channel.     We  see  the  famous  mountain  called 

O 

Hestmando,  which  is  about  1,500  feet  in  height.  This 
is  the  peak  which  is  supposed  by  some  people  to  repre- 
sent a  horseman  swimming  in  the  water.  Such  people, 
however,  must  have  been  possessed  of  a  species  of 
Arabian  Nights'  imagination,  for  I  could  not  detect 
the  slightest  resemblance  to  either  horse  or  rider.  It 
is  said  that  the  Norwegian  fishermen,  who  are  quite 
superstitious,  take  off  their  hats  when  their  boats  pass 
this  island. 

The  mountains  increase  in  ruggedness  as  we  cross 
the  Arctic  Circle,  in  the  meridian  of  thirteen  degrees  east 
from  Greenwich.  We  were  then  in  a  little  higher  lati- 
tude than  the  extreme  northern  point  of  Iceland.  The 
impression  made  upon  the  mind  by  entering  the  frigid 
zone  is  peculiar,  yet  not  indescribable.  It  is  naturally 
very  different  from  that  received  in  passing  the  equator. 
There  you  are  still  in  a  sublunary  paradise,  but  here 
you  are  passing  into  a  region  of  desolation  and  gloom. 
There  you  are  on  or  near  some  of  the  highways  of  the 
world,  but  here  you  seem  to  be  leaving  behind  every- 
thing that  makes  life  worth  having.  There  it  is  fair 
and  warm,  here  cold  and  stormy.  To  cross  the  polar 
circle  is  really  to  enter  another  world — a  grand  and  in  a 
way,  a  picturesque  world,  but  one  teeming  with  risks  of 
suffering,  danger  and  death.    It  is  doubtless  superfluous 


CROSSING    THE  ARCTIC  CIRCLE.  79 

to  tell  my  readers  that  this  is  the  most  southerly  point 
from  which  the  midnight  sun  may  be  seen  at  the  level 
of  the  sea.  Within  this  parallel  the  disk  of  the  sun 
remains  wholly  above  the  horizon  for  a  term  of  more 
than  twenty-four  hours  at  one  season  of  the  year,  or 
does  not  rise  for  a  term  of  more  than  twenty-four  hours 
at  the  opposite  period  of  the  year. 

Our  steamer  stops  an  hour  at  Bodo,  a  town  of  a 
thousand  inhabitants  and  the  capital  of  Nordland.  Its 
situation  near  the  fishing  banks  of  Loffoden  makes  it  a 
place  of  considerable  commercial  importance.  It  is  the 
usual  Norwegian  fishing  town,  a  few  frame  and  many 
log  houses,  some  wide  streets,  half  a  dozen  meagre 
stores,  and  a  score  of  fish  and  oil  warehouses.  Near 
this  town  stands  the  old  parsonage  in  which  Louis 
Philippe  resided  for  some  time  during  his  exile.  His 
room,  decorated  in  the  antique,  style,  is  still  shown. 
The  scenery  all  about  Bodo  is  of  the  wildest  and  most 
picturesque  character.  From  here  we  steer  north  and 
west  across  the  mouth  of  Vest  Fiord,  the  largest  fiord 
in  Norway,  to  the  Loffodens,  about  eighty  miles  distant. 
These  islands  are  simply  steep  mountains,  with  peaks 
from  two  to  three  thousand  feet  in  height,  tipped  with 
snow.  Their  serrated  edges  somewhat  resemble  the 
jaws  of  a  shark. 

The  world-famous  fishing  banks,  where  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years  the  Norwegians  have  captured 
fish  for  domestic  and  foreign  use,  lie  along  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Loffodens  for  a  distance  of  a  hundred 
miles.    There  are  three  ledges  of  different  depths  which 


80  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

extend  far  out  into  the  fiord,  and  here  the  codfish  come 
to  spawn,  because  here  they  are  protected  from  the 
winds  and  waves.  They  are  caught  during  the  months 
of  February  and  March,  from  open  boats.  Generally 
long  gill-nets  are  joined  together  and  sunk  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea,  and  the  fish  becoming  entangled  in 
them  are  caught  in  great  numbers.  The  largest  fish 
are  always  taken  in  this  manner.  Trawls,  however,  are 
also  extensively  employed.  These  are  long  lines,  some- 
times extending  a  mile  or  more  along  the  ocean,  and 
having  short  lines  with  baited  hooks  attached  to  them. 
As  a  rule  the  Loffoden  fishery  cannot  be  carried  on 
more  than  two  days  in  a  week,  owing  to  the  stormy 
weather  which  is  prevalent  during  its  periodical  pro- 
gress. The  nets  are  usually  left  out  several  days  at  a 
time,  the  fishermen  visiting  them  each  morning  and 
removing  the  fish  that  have  been  enmeshed  the  night 
previous.  Sometimes  as  many  as  a  thousand  fish  are 
caught  in  a  single  night.  None  are  caught  except  at 
night. 

The  gill-net  system  of  Norway  was  recently  intro- 
duced to  the  knowledge  of  our  New  England  coast 
fishermen,  to  whom  the  question  of  bait  has  become  a 
more  and  more  serious  one  for  years  past.  But  hardly 
had  it  been  fairly  brought  to  their  notice  than,  with 
characteristic  Yankee  ingenuity,  a  plan  was  hit  upon 
whereby  one  man  is  enabled  to  accomplish  the  amount 
of  work  for  which  seven  men  are  required  in  Norway  ! 
That  was  inevitable.  If  a  Cape  Cod  man  had  been 
present  at  the  creation  he  would  probably  have  sug- 


CROSSING    THE  ARCTIC  CIRCLE.  8 1 

gested  some  important  improvements   in  the  working 
of  the  universe. 

In  Norway  some  of  the  fish  are  dried  by  the  sun 
upon  the  flat  rocks  of  the  coast,  but  the  greater  part  by 
both  sun  and  air,  being  hung  upon  wooden  frames 
specially  constructed  for  this  purpose.  About  mid- 
summer the  fish  are  properly  cured  and  are  then  sent 
south  as  the  stock-fish  of  commerce.  The  codfish,  both 
dried  and  salted,  are  exported,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
to  France,  Spain,  and  Italy.  Cod  roes  go  to  France  and 
Spain,  where  they  are  used  in  the  capture  of  sardines. 
The  herring  fishery,  which  is  also  a  source  of  great 
revenue  to  Norway,  though  it  varies  greatly,  is  carried 
on  upon  the  southwest  coast  in  the  summer  and  autumn. 
The  arrival  of  the  shoals  off  the  coast  is  instantly  tele- 
graphed from  town  to  town.  In  good  years  as  many  as 
600,000  barrels  of  herrings  are  shipped  to  Sweden,  Den- 
mark and  the  Baltic  ports.  There  is  a  small  white 
whale  fishery  north  of  the  Loffodens.  There  is  also  a 
shark  fishery  for  oil.  This  is  carried  on,  however,  fur- 
ther north,  near  Hammerfest.  A  shark's  liver  will  yield 
from  fifteen  to  sixty  gallons  of  oil.  At  Spitzbergen 
and  Nova  Zembla,  in  the  Polar  ocean,  are  quite  exten- 
sive seal  fisheries.  There  are  25,000  men  in  Norway 
engaged  in  the  cod  fishery.  The  people  living  on  the 
west  coast  are  almost  entirely  supported  by  it.  As 
many  as  25,000,000  cod  have  been  caught  in  sixty  days  ! 
This  fishery  is  quite  regular,  but  the  herring  fishery 
never  can  be  depended  on.  In  1874  only  17,000  bar- 
rels of  herring  were  taken,  the  average  annual  yield 


82  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

having  previously  been  about  600,000  barrels.  For 
some  undiscovered  reason  the  herring  fishery  is  rapidly 
decreasing. 

One  by  one  the  fondly  cherished  beliefs  of  child- 
hood are  cruelly  dispelled.  Creatures  and  creations  in 
which  I  once  implicitly  believed  are  being  proved  by 
hard  facts  to  be  only  figments  of  the  imagination.  First 
I  hear  laughs  when  speaking  of  an  actual  living  Robin- 
son Crusoe  ;  then  they  say  the  beautiful  story  of  Wil- 
liam Tell  has  but  a  legendary  foundation,  that  Gesler 
did  not  command  Tell  to  shoot  an  apple  off  his  son's 
head  because  there  were  no  apples  in  Switzerland  at 
that  time.  Then  magazinists  worry  one  another  with 
their  everlasting  gibberish,  as  to  whether  Bacon  wrote 
Shakespeare  or  vice  versa,  and  if  so,  whether  Shake- 
speare ever  lived.  About  the  same  time  intelligence 
comes  to  me  which  naturally  changes  my  whole  future 
— the  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth,  so  long  esti- 
mated at  92.960,000  miles,  has  been  reduced  by  late 
measurement  to  the  contemptible  figure  of  92,600,000. 
But  now  I  undergo  the  saddest  disillusion  of  all.  The 
great  maelstrom  which  whirls  between  two  of  the  Lof- 
foden  islands  never  sucked  down  in  its  spiral  abyss 
huge  leviathans,  nor  three-deck  frigates,  firing  broad- 
sides, and  with  colors  flying.  It  is  Edgar  A.  Poe,  in  this 
instance,  who  has  so  shamefully  imposed  upon  my 
cheery  credulity.  Even  the  geographies  have  only 
been  romances.  Where  will  it  all  end  ?  When  shall  we 
know  anything  for  a  certainty  ? 

The  maelstrom   is   simply   a  current  between   two 


CROSSING    THE  ARCTIC  CIRCLE.  83 

islands.  Its  swiftness  depends  almost  entirely  upon 
the  state  of  the  wind  and  tide.  There  is  at  no  time  a 
vortex  and  the  fishermen  actually  drop  their  nets  in 
the  centre  of  the  channel.  There  is,  however,  some  dan- 
ger of  a  ship  being  driven  upon  the  rocks  when  the 
wind  blows  strongly  from  the  northwest  and  meets  the 
tide  with  the  immense  body  of  water  which  is  forced 
into  the  narrow  channel,  so  much  more  shallow  than 
the  sea  outside  the  islands  to  the  west.  There  are 
many  like  currents  among  the  Loffodens,  and  all  are 
caused  by  similar  pressure  of  outside  sea  upon  strait- 
ened and  shallow  channels.  Though  ships  are  seldom 
if  ever  driven  aground,  whales  frequently  are.  As  I 
have  said,  the  contracted  entrances  which  are  quite 
deep  outside,  suddenly  shoal  within,  and  the  generally 
wary  cetacean  mammoth  having  incautiously  entered, 
it  is  impossible  for  him  to  retreat  owing  to  the  large 
space  required  for  turning  his  unwieldy  body,  and  so 
with  the  falling  tide  he  is  generally  stranded  and  thus 
becomes  an  easy  prey. 

The  coast  scenery  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Loffo- 
dens is  strikingly  Alpine  in  character.  As  the  reader 
may  already  have  gathered  from  my  attempted  descrip- 
tions, the  scenery  of  Norway  abounds  in  the  most  sud- 
den and  surprising  contrasts.  Changes  of  latitude 
seem  to  effect  nothing.  Nature  loves  antitheses,  and 
we  have  Arctic  scenes  in  the  south,  and  almost  tropical 
scenery  in  the  north.  In  the  summer  there  is  a  north 
wind  and  in  the  winter  a  south  wind.  It  is  a  land  of 
contradictions.      From  the   Loffodens  to   North  Cape 


84  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

snow  falls  occasionally  during  the  summer  months,  and 
though  there  is  much  fog  and  mist,  there  are  no  gales. 
In  winter,  however,  very  heavy  tempests  rage  along  the 
coast.  These  are  frequently  attended  with  lightning 
which  does  much  damage  to  the  churches.  It  is  even 
said  that  as  many  as  forty  of  these  have  been  struck 
and  destroyed  within  the  past  fifty  years.  Deity  does 
not  resemble  the  devil  in  taking  care  of  his  own. 

The  climate  is,  however,  on  the  whole  remarkably 
mild.  The  temperature  of  the  west  coast  is  200  higher 
than  corresponding  latitudes  in  other  countries.  In  no 
other  part  of  the  globe  do  we  find  so  great  a  surplus  of 
heat  as  that  provided  for  Norway  by  the  Gulf  Stream. 
Its  influence  is  felt  even  as  far  as  the  frontier  of  Russia. 
But  for  it  Scandinavia  would  have  a  climate  as  rigorous 
as  that  of  Greenland,  and  would  therefore  not  be  a  fit 
abode  for  civilized  beings.  The  manner  in  which  the 
industrious  Gulf  Stream  does  so  much  of  the  work  of 
the  laggard  winter-  sun  is  worthy  of  explanation  and 
praise.  For  a  long  distance  out  into  the  ocean  along 
the  entire  coast  of  Norway,  extend  huge  shelving  banks 
which  render  the  water  there  comparatively  shallow, 
and  the  great  warm  current  flowing  steadily  over  these 
banks  is  thus  in  a  measure  prevented  from  parting  with 
its  heat  below,  while  the  copious  supply  of  vapor  it  en- 
genders is  carried  by  the  winds  over  the  whole  country 
and  condensed  into  clouds  which  thus  serve  as  a  barrier 
against  loss  of  heat  upwards  by  radiation.  The  store 
of  heat  accumulated  in  the  ocean's  depths  and  contin- 
ually replenished  in   the  tropics   is  so  enormous  that 


CROSSING   THE  ARCTIC  CIRCLE  85 

the  most  rigorous  of  northern  winters  fails  to  exhaust 
it.  Thus  at  North  Cape,  which  is  in  latitude  71  degrees 
11  minutes  north,  the  sea  never  freezes.  And  although 
the  difference  in  latitude  between  it  and  Christiania  is 
over  12  degrees,  their  temperature  during  the  winter 
months  is  the  same. 

In  Siberia  agriculture  ceases  at  60  degrees  of  north 
latitude,  but  in  Norway  oats  ripen  under  69,  rye  under 
69.30,  and  barley  under  70.  In  Finmark  the  summer 
heat  is  intense,  and  daylight  is  continuous  for  ten 
weeks.  The  assistance  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  so  much 
appreciated  in  winter,  may  then  well  be  spared.  The 
rapid  growth  of  vegetation  is  almost  incredible.  Dur- 
ing this  season  crops  are  sown,  ripened,  and  reaped. 
It  has  been  found  by  experiment  that  in  latitude  65 
degrees  north,  barley  will  grow  two-and-one-half  inches 
and  peas  three  inches  in  the  twenty-four  hours  for  sev- 
eral consecutive  days  !  Barley  is  harvested  in  ten 
weeks  after  being  sown.  At  Hammerfest,  in  latitude 
70.40  north,  the  grass  grows  underneath  the  snow,  and 
hay  is  made  in  a  month  after  the  snow  has  left  the 
fields.  Here  the  Scotch  fir  flourishes  vigorously,  some- 
times reaching  an  altitude  of  eighty  feet.  But  a  little 
further  east  in  this  same  latitude,  in  winter,  mercury 
and  even  brandy  frequently  freeze  in  the  open  air. 

A  Norwegian  scientist,  Dr.  Schubeler,  has  been  en- 
gaged in  making  experiments  during  the  past  thirty 
years  to  determine  the  effects  of  the  midnight  sun, 
during  the  Scandinavian  summers,  on  the  wheat 
and  other  grain   crops.     The  conclusion   he  draws  is 


86  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

that  wheat,  corn  and  other  seeds  imported  from  a 
warmer  clime,  when  cultivated  under  this  unintermit- 
tent  sunlight,  become  hardier  as  well  as  larger,  and  bet- 
ter able  to  resist  excessive  cold.  The  colors  of  these 
grains  are  also  gradually  changed  to  a  richer  and  darker 
hue.  These  are  not,  however,  the  only  variations  that 
plants  undergo  by  exposure  to  a  night  and  day  sun. 
The  aroma  and  flavor  of  wild  and  cultivated  fruits, 
capable  of  ripening  in  northern  lands,  are  much  more 
perceptible  by  the  senses  than  are  the  aroma  and  flavor 
of  fruits  grown  under  more  southern  skies.  This  is 
particularly  observable,  Dr.  Schubeler  says,  in  the 
small  fruits  which  are  so  grateful  in  the  early  part  of 
the  warm  season.  The  experiments  of  this  Norwegian 
scientist  derive  double  interest  from  the  recent  inquiries 
of  Dr.  Siemens,  illustrating  the  power  of  the  electric 
light  when  applied  to  plants  and  vegetables  to  quicken 
and  invigorate  their  growth.  Both  investigations, 
though  entirely  independent,  have  led  to  the  same  scien- 
tific result. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Farthest  Thule. 

The  islands  of  the  west  coast  of  Norway,  within  the 
Arctic  Circle,  are  frequented  by  eider-ducks,  and  whole 
flocks  of  them  fearlessly  swirled,  in  air  and  water,  about 
the  steamer  as  we  swiftly  pursued  our  course.  These 
ducks  are  nearly  the  size  of  the  common  goose.  Al- 
though their  flesh  is  quite  palatable,  they  are  never 
killed,  because  the  feathers  with  which  they  line  their 
nests  supply  the  well-known  and  valuable  eider-down 
of  commerce.  Their  nests,  composed  of  marine  plants 
and  built  upon  the  ground,  are  lined  with  small,  soft 
feathers  which  the  female  plucks  from  her  own  body. 
When  she  has  stripped  herself  of  all  her  down,  the  male 
furnishes  his.  The  birds  will  allow  their  nests  to  be 
robbed  of  feathers  three  times,  after  which  they  desert 
the  locality.  A  nest  will  produce  about  half  a  pound 
of  down,  which,  when  picked  and  cleaned,  is  reduced 
one-half  in  weight.  This  down  is  so  elastic  that  an 
amount  which  may  be  compressed  between  the  hands 
will  serve  to  stuff  an  entire  coverlet  !  The  weight  of 
this  will  scarcely  be  perceptible,  but  it  will  prove  warmer 
than  the  finest  blanket.  I  am  told  that  if  the  feathers 
are  plucked  from  the  breast  of  a  bird  which  is  dead 
they  will  possess  no  elasticity. 


88  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

We  called  at  several  small  fishing  stations  in  the 
Loffodens,  and  then  the  next  important  stoppage  was  at 
Tromsoe,  the  capital  of  a  province  of  like  name  which 
contains  about  50,000  inhabitants— Norwegians,  Lapps, 
and  Quains.  There  are  many  relics  of  antiquity  in  this 
province,  as  in  Nordland.  In  one  place  is  an  immense 
heap  of  reindeer  horns  and  bones,  deep  in  the  midst  of 
which  human  remains  have  been  discovered.  Here 
long  ago  the  Lapps  probably  sacrificed  to  their  divini- 
ties. Cairns  of  earth  and  stone  are  frequently  met  with 
in  the  interior.  These  have  usually  a  hollow  chamber 
which  doubtless  once  contained  an  idol.  In  one  of 
them,  at  least,  a  gigantic  block  of  stone  representing  a 
Lapp  deity  has  been  found.  Both  on  the  sea-shore  and 
in  the  valleys,  caves  have  been  discovered  which  con- 
tained human  bones.  Stone  barrows  also  abound. 
There  is  only  one  large  town  in  this  province — Trom- 
soe. 

The  scenery  from  the  Arctic  Circle  to  Tromsoe  is 
simply  superb.  Such  a  moving  panorama  is  to  be  had 
nowhere  else  in  the  world.  The  traveler  has  but  to 
comfortably. seat  himself  upon  the  deck  of  the  passing 
steamer  and  gaze,  wonder,  and  admire.  Thus  is  he 
ecstatically  regaled  without  the  slightest  personal  exer- 
tion or  harassment.  This  part  of  Norway,  were  its 
merits  properly  made  known,  would,  I  feel  sure,  soon 
rival  Switzerland  as  a  vacation-ground  for  the  over- 
worked, and  all  in  search  of  the  grand  and  picturesque 
in  nature. 

Tromsoe  lies  upon  the  sloping  sides  of  a  low,  verdant 


FARTHEST    THULE.  89 

island.  Fish  warehouses  four  stories  in  height  line  the 
fiord.  The  streets  are  broad  and  run  at  right  angles. 
There  is  not  a  large  assortment  of  stores.  I  counted 
eight  watchmakers  in  a  walk  of  ten  minutes.  It  being 
daylight  during  the  greater  part  of  the  summer,  and  in 
winter  very  dark  during  all  the  twenty-four  hours,  save 
from  10  a.  m.  to  2  p.  m.,  I  do  not  wonder  the  townsfolk* 
need  so  much  assistance  in  enabling  them  to  keep  the 
run  of  time.  There  is,  however,  a  general  atmosphere 
of  thrift  and  business  that  is  quite  astonishing  in  a  place 
situated  so  far  within  the  septentrional  regions.  Trom- 
soe  was  founded  over  eighty  years  ago,  and  contains  at 
present  about  5,000  inhabitants.  It  has  a  high-school 
and  seminary,  three  banks  and  a  museum. 

From  Tromsoe  we  go  on  to  Hammerfest,  the  most 
northerly  town  in  Norway  and  in  the  world,  unless  we 
are  to  dignify  the  few  huts  of  Upernavik,  in  Greenland, 
by  the  name  of  town.  But  that  may  doubtless  claim 
title  as  the  remotest  boundary  of  semi-civilized  exist- 
ence. Hammerfest  is  situated  upon  the  western  side 
of  a  little  island  called  Kvalo.  There  is  not  a  tree  or 
bush  in  sight  anywhere.  The  town  and  surrounding 
hills  have  an  incomparably  dreary  appearance.  It  is 
said  the  island  was  at  one  time  well  wooded,  but  the 
trees  have  all  been  cut  down  for  domestic  use  and  no 
young  ones  have  been  planted  in  their  places.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  inhabitants,  much  drift  wood  is  brought 
hither  by  the  Gulf  Stream.  "  Think,"  says  Taylor,  "  of 
Arctic  fishers  burning  upon  their  hearths  the  palms  of 
Hayti,  the  mahogany  of  Honduras,   and   the  precious 


90  NOKSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

woods   of  the  Amazon  and   Orinoco."     But   thus  the 
Equator  communicates  her  sympathy  to  the  Pole. 

Hammerfest  is   simply  a  collection  of  tumble-down 
warehouses  and  dwellings  bordering  the  base  of  a  rocky 
cliff  and  extending  along  a  narrow  peninsula  that  makes 
a  natural  breakwater  behind  which  lie  perhaps   thirty 
small  vessels.    Many  of  these  are  Russian  traders  which 
bring  wheat  and  corn   from  Archangel,  on  the  White 
Sea.     It  is  customary  also  for  many   sloops,  of  from 
twenty  to  forty  tons  burden,  to  leave  here  annually,  in 
the  month  of  May,  for  the  island  of  Spitzbergen,  about 
four  hundred  miles  distant  to  the  northward,  where  their 
crews    gather  eider-down   and   hunt  white    bears    and 
walruses.     Hammerfest  is  over   a  hundred  years  old. 
At  present  it   contains   about    2,000    inhabitants.      Its 
trade  consists  in   the  purchase  and  reshipment  of  the 
Finmark  fisheries,  the  manufacture  and  export  of  cod- 
liver  oil,  the   fitting-out  of  expeditions  to   the   fishing- 
banks,  and  occasionally  of  one  to  the  Polar   regions. 
Two  weekly  newspapers  are  published  in  Hammerfest. 
It  must  be  a  rather  dreary  place  during  the  long  winter, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  people  are  then  very 
gay,  and  that  balls  and  dinner-parties  and  other  amuse- 
ments are   quite  common.      The  revels  at  a  wedding 
feast,  it   is    said,   are  sometimes    continued  for   three 
weeks,  or  until  every  person  becomes  exhausted  with 
excitement  and  dancing. 

I  found  on  the  skirts  of  the  town  a  most  comfort- 
able and  cheery  little  inn,  kept  by  a  Norwegian  woman 
who  did  everything  possible  for  my  comfort.     Ham- 


FARTHEST    TIIULE.  9 1 

merfest  seems  to  consist  chiefly  of  one  long  street  which 
extends  around  the  bay.  It  is  a  sort  of  raised  stone 
causeway  with  a  narrow  sidewalk  and  deep  ditches  on 
each  side.  Most  of  the  houses  which  border  it  are 
made  of  logs,  and  have  very  diminutive  doors  and  win- 
dows. In  one  extremity  of  the  town  are  several  hovels, 
with  walls  six  feet  in  thickness  and  made  of  loose  stones 
and  turf,  which  resemble  those  one  frequently  sees  in 
Ireland.  These  are  inhabited  by  poor  Norwegian  fish- 
ermen. 

The  odor  of  cod-liver  oil  fills  half  the  town.  I 
visited  one  of  the  factories  where  this  valuable  secre- 
tion is  made  ready  for  exportation.  There  was  no 
necessity  to  inquire  the  way  ;  the  sense  of  smell  di- 
rected. It  is  well  that  those  for  whom  the  oil  is  medi- 
cally prescribed,  do  not  witness  the  processes  of  manu- 
facture. For  myself,  I  should  prefer  having  a  little 
consumption — not  too  much,  of  course — rather  than 
swallow  any  of  this  nauseous  remedy.  In  a  shed  by 
the  side  of  the  harbor  were  huge  vats  filled  with  the 
livers  of  the  cod-fish,  and  the  oil  which  rises  to  the  sur- 
face is  skimmed  off  and  put  into  huge  copper  kettles  to 
be  boiled.  Six  of  these  kettles  are  arranged  around 
furnaces  in  which  fierce  fires  were  raging,  and  men  be- 
grimed with  oil  and  dirt  stood  about  stirring  the  caul- 
drons with  enormous  spoons.  There  are  second  and 
third  rate  qualities  obtained  by  boiling  the  refuse,  and 
these  are  employed  in  dressing  and  currying  leather  and 
serve  also  for  lamp  oil.  In  an  adjoining  shed  stood 
many  of  the  barrels,  prepared  for  shipment.     One  of 


92  NORSK",  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

the  men  thoughtfully  brought  me  a  glass  of  the  clarified 
oil  to  taste,  but  what  with  the  surrounding  sights  and 
smells  my  gustatory  nerves  protested,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  decline  the  insidious  attention. 

To  abruptly  change  the  subject  from  a  dangerously 
sick  man's  diet  to  that  of  a  remarkably  well  man  :  for 
dinner,  so  many  miles  within  the  Arctic  Circle,  my 
landlady  gave  me — give  ear,  O,  ye  gourmets! — trout; 
reindeer-tongues  and  string  beans  ;  stewed  hare  and 
potatoes  ;  wheaten  cakes ;  and  a  delicious  small  fruit, 
of  which  I  do  not  remember  the  name.  It  resembles 
somewhat  a  cranberry,  though  it  is  eaten  with  cream  and 
sugar.  This  dainty  repast  was  moistened  throughout 
with  rich  spicy  beer  and  was  consummated  with  a  little 
glass  of  strong  native  brandy,  followed  by  the  calumet. 
As  I  was  concluding,  a  man  under  the  window  blew  a 
few  notes  on  a  bugle  and  then  read  aloud  a  notice  to 
the  effect  that  a  certain  steamer  would  leave  that  night 
for  a  certain  place  provided  a  certain  number  of  people 
signified  a  desire  to  become  passengers.  He  then  de- 
parted for  another  part  of  the  town  to  test  his  lungs  and 
his  hearers'  ears  in  like  manner.  So  you  see  that  the 
vocation  of  the  public  crier  has  not  yet  become  extinct 
— at  least  in  the  far  north  of  Norway. 

It  seemed  rather  absurd  to  go  to  bed  with  perfect 
daylight  at  half  an  hour  after  midnight,  but  one  must 
needs  sleep  sometime.  A  large  stove  in  my  room  pro- 
duced a  very  comfortable  feeling,  but  I  could  not  hon- 
estly say  as  much  for  a  bed  but  five  feet  in  length.  The 
proprietress  had  apparently  appreciated  my  eagerness  to 


FARTHEST   TIIULE.  93 

obtain  latitude,  and  had  supposed  that  longitude  was, 
for  the  time,  altogether  out  of  my  calculations.  How- 
ever, by  removing  the  bolster  and  wedge-shaped  cush- 
ions which  one  finds  throughout  Scandinavia  as  well 
as  Germany,  and  by  doubling  up  my  pillow  a  little  and 
myself  very  much,  I  succeeded  finally  in  getting  to 
bed.  Though  there  was  but  a  sheet  and  coverlet  over 
me,  I  slept  both  warm  and  well,  for  the  coverlet  was 
stuffed  with  the  heat-immuring  eider-down. 

Upon  going  forth  in  the  morning,  I  perceive  that 
on  a  long  rocky  peninsula  across  the  harbor  of  Ham- 
merfest,  stands  a  small  granite  column,  which  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  bronze  terrestrial  globe.  An  inscription 
in  Latin  and  Norwegian  states  that  this  is  the  most 
important  station,  the  septentrional  terminus,  of  the 
great  European  arc  of  meridian  250  20',  of  which  the 
southern  extremity  is  on  the  Danube.  This  was  also 
one  of  a  chain  of  stations  extending  from  the  equator 
to  the  pole,  for  making  pendulum  observations  in  order 
to  learn  the  variations  of  gravity  on  the  earth's  surface. 
The  column  was  erected  by  the  sovereigns  of  Norway 
and  Sweden,  and  Russia. 

I  have  never  seen  so  many  nor  such  enormous 
stingers  or  jelly-fish  {Cyanea  cafiillata)  as  there  are  in 
these  northern  waters.  They  are  frequently  a  foot  in 
diameter,  with  great  masses  of  fibrous  tentacles  stream- 
ing after  them  in  the  sea,  like  the  tail  of  a  cornet.  Oc- 
casionally they  expose  a  portion  of  their  gelatinous 
surface  above  the  water.  They  swim  alongside  of  the 
steamer,  alternately  opening  and   shutting  themselves 


94  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

as  we  do  an  umbrella.  They  were  in  search  of  such 
food  as  may  have  been  thrown  overboard.  But  since 
they  have  no  cerebrum,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  they 
possess  so  much  intuition  as  this  action  would  seem  to 
imply — that  is,  supposing  it  is  possible  for  instinct  to 
exist  without  brains,  a  theory  which  has  not  yet  been 
proven.  I  sometimes  distinctly  saw  enveloped  in  the 
transparent  jelly,  of  which  the  bodies  of  these  curious 
connecting  links  between  the  vegetable  and  animal 
kingdoms  seem  composed,  full-grown,  five-rayed  star- 
fish. How  they  manage  to  digest  them  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive. 

Sometimes  the  jelly-fish  drift  near  the  surface  of 
the  water,  their  mushroom-shaped  disks  uppermost  ; 
again,  they  draw  themselves  along,  several  feet  be- 
low the  surface,  with  their  ribbon-like  fringes  reach- 
ing upwards,  as  if  hoping  thus  to  entangle  prey  with- 
out being  seen  themselves.  They  expand  at  first 
into  distinct  and  perfect-shaped  stars,  then  the  points 
seem  to  melt  into  a  smooth  edge  as  they  contract  close 
around  the  spongy  roots  of  the  tentacles.  Stingers 
consist  of  nothing  but  stomach,  and  their  sole  mission 
in  life  seems  to  be  to  skirmish  around  and  fill  it.  They 
are  the  gourmands  of  the  sea.  How  long  they  exist, 
how  many  children  they  have,  whether  they  enjoy  life, 
these  and  a  few  kindred  questions  one  would  very 
much  like  to  have  answered.  But  they  are  resolutely 
reticent  on  all  these  points  :  uncouth  and  uncomplain- 
ing they  drift  gently  along  with  the  tide,  lie  compla- 
cently by  the  side  of  the  steamer,  and  silently  and  gin- 


FARTHEST   THULE.  95 

gerly  take  to  their  arms  the  sedate  but  succulent  star- 
fish. Alas,  it  is  the  caress  of  death  to  the  poor  little 
radiate. 

One  of  the  weekly  papers  of  Hammerfest  is  styled 
the  "  Fin  mark  Post."  It  is  a  single  sheet  of  four 
pages  and  twelve  columns,  and  about  a  foot  square. 
It  contains  chiefly  articles  copied  from  French  and 
English  journals,  and  local  items  and  advertisements, 
though  there  are  telegrams  from  the  capitals  of  the 
world  whenever  there  is  news  of  great  importance.  In 
a  number  which  now  lies  before  me,  there  is  an  article 
of  a  column  and  a  half,  which  discusses  the  relative 
merits  of  Disraeli  as  novelist  and  statesman.  A  column 
is  devoted  to  the  timber  interests  of  the  province,  an- 
other to  the  shipping ;  a  brief  paper  considers  the  state 
of  the  foreign  fish  market,  and  a  few  paragraphs  gently 
upbraid  the  nation  for  the  money  sent  out  of  the  coun- 
try in  support  of  the  Hamburg  lottery.  The  remainder 
of  this,  the  most  northerly  newspaper  of  the  world,  is 
taken  up  with  advertisements  of  steamers  and  trading- 
ships.  The  "  Finmark  Post  "  is  printed  in  the  Norsk 
character,  and  sells  for  the  equivalent  in  our  coinage 
of  four  cents  a  copy. 

But  perhaps  the  reader  is  growing  impatient  to  learn 
more  in  detail  my  impressions  of  this  people  and  coun- 
try. These  I  have  purposely  delayed  giving  heretofore, 
partly  in  order  not  to  interrupt  too  much  the  narrative 
of  the  journey,  but  rather,  in  imitation  of  the  judges  in 
the  courts,  that  I  might  be  continually  receiving  evi- 
dence from  every  quarter,  until,  when  about  to  leave 


96  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

the  kingdom,  decision  might  appropriately  be  pro- 
nounced. I  will  therefore  now  devote  a  chapter  to  a 
consideration  of  the  characteristic  traits  of  Norway  and 
the  Norwegians. 


CHAPTER   X. 
Country,  Character,  and  Customs. 

Norway,  as  the  reader  is  aware,  constitutes  about 
one-half  of  the  great  Scandinavian  peninsula.  It  is  a 
little  over  1,000  miles  in  length,  and  from  40  to  275 
miles  in  breadth.  A  great  chain  of  mountains,  with 
numerous  branches,  runs  through  its  entire  length. 
Nine-tenths  of  its  surface  consist  of  high  plateaus  and 
one-thirty-eighth  of  it  is  covered  by  perpetual  snow. 
There  are  few  navigable  rivers,  owing  to  the  numerous 
rapids  and  falls.  The  country  is  for  the  most  part  cut 
up  into  deep  narrow  valleys,  which  are  very  thinly 
settled.  The  towns  are  small  and  separated  by  much 
mountain  wilderness.  Only  three  of  them  in  the 
whole  kingdom, — Christiania,  Bergen,  and  Trondjhem — 
have  more  than  20,000  inhabitants  each.  Whenever 
you  meet  with  a  dozen  farmhouses,  a  church  and  a 
couple  of  stores,  there,  in  Norwegian  comprehension, 
exists  a  town. 

The  ancient  moraines,  remains  of  a  more  Arctic 
fauna,  giant  pots,  shell  banks,  sand  terraces,  and  strand 
lines  make  Norway  a  very  interesting  country  for  the 
palaeontologist  and  geologist.  Fossils,  however,  are  not 
available  as  a  means  of  livelihood  for  the  people,  who 


98  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

must  seek  their  support  either  on  or  in  the  ground — the 
primal  source  of  the  wealth  of  all  nations.  Minerals 
are  indeed  found  in  this  country,  iron,  copper,  silver, 
nickel  and  cobalt,  but  none  of  the  mines  are  very  pro- 
ductive, and  coal  to  smelt  the  ores  must  be  imported 
from  abroad  at  a  high  price.  So  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  cannot  live  by  means  of  what  is  found  in  the 
earth.  Nor  can  they  all  live  by  what  is  on  its  surface. 
There  are  only  two  comparatively  level  tracts  in  the 
country,  those  around  Christiania  and  Trondjhem. 
Here  the  soil  is  extremely  fertile  and  produces  freely. 
But  the  remainder  of  Norway  may  be  said,  in  brief,  to 
consist  of  rock  and  snow,  not  more  than  140  square 
miles  of  its  entire  area  being  under  the  plough. 

A  great  scourge  to  Norway  are  the  lemmings,  which 
sometimes  visit  it  in  great  numbers,  and  devour  all  the 
corn  and  herbage  in  their  track.  The  Norwegians,  it  is 
said,  once  had  a  lemming-litany  in  their  church  service, 
in  which  these  pests  were  most  solemnly  exorcised  ! 
The  lemmings  are  of  nearly  the  same  size  and  appear- 
ance as  a  water-rat.  They  come  in  immense  multi- 
tudes about  once  in  four  years.  They  are  attacked 
immediately  by  various  birds  of  prey,  such  as  owls, 
buzzards,  and  hawks.  Even  the  reindeer  does  not  dis- 
dain to  help  in  the  task,  and  kills  them  by  a  stroke  of 
its  hoof,  eating  only  the  stomach.  The  Norwegians 
imagine  that  the  presence  of  the  lemming  betokens  a 
severe  winter,  but  it  is  more  probable  that  too  great  in- 
crease of  numbers  produces  a  scarcity  of  food,  for 
which  they  therefore  go  in  search.     They  travel  always 


COUNTRY,  CHARACTER,  AND    CUSTOMS.       99 

in  a  straight  line  from  east  to  west,  swimming  the  rivers 
and  fiords  until  they  reach  the  islands  off  the  coast,  and 
the  sea,  where  multitudes  are  drowned.  They  move 
chiefly  at  night.  The  survivors  never  return  eastwards, 
This  is  explained  doubtless  by  the  fact  of  so  many 
relentless  enemies  pursuing  them. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  fish  from  the  adjoining  sea, 
and  for  the  forests  which  cover  four-fifths  of  the  sur- 
face of  Norway,  the  people  would  starve.  The  fishing 
interest  has  been  already  discussed.  The  valuable 
woods  which  are  exported  ane  pine  and  fir.  These  are 
cut  in  the  forests  in  winter  and  dragged  to  the  near- 
est river  and  placed  upon  the  ice.  When  this  breaks 
up  in  the  spring,  they  are  carried  down  by  water  to  the 
fiord  or  seaside,  ready  for  exportation.  The  timber 
is  sent  chiefly  to  England,  France  and  Holland. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  soil  is  shallow 
and  that  the  winter  lasts  through  seven  months  of  the 
year,  still  I  could  plainly  see,  during  my  journey  across 
the  country  from  Christiania  to  the  west  coast,  that  the 
•peasant  farmers  owed  their  extreme  poverty  largely  to 
themselves.  Their  farm  implements  are  most  antiqua- 
ted and  rude,  and  they  till  the  ground  exactly  as  their 
■forefathers  did  centuries  ago.  Potatoes  grow  in  all 
parts  of  Norway.  They  were  introduced  in  17 70, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  a  sister  of  George  III. 
of  England,  and  are  always  to  be  found  at  every  farm- 
house. But  though  cabbages,  turnips,  carrots,  onions, 
and  peas  will  grow  in  almost  all  sections,  they  are 
seldom  seen  at  table.     In  winter  you  cannot  get  any 


100  NORSK,  LAPP,  AXD  FIXX. 

green  vegetables  anywhere.  The  southern  part  of  the 
country  is  capable  of  producing  many  delicious  fruits, 
though  gooseberries  and  strawberries  are  all  I  remember 
having  eaten.  Very  little  wheat  is  grown.  Breeding 
horses  and  cattle  would  be  a  profitable  occupation  were 
it  pursued  as  it  should  be.  As  in  Denmark,  the  land  is 
mostly  held  in  very  small  farms.  There  are  no  great 
landowners  and  no  laws  governing  the  transmission  of 
property  as  in  England.  The  farmers  are  quite  content 
to  live  in  log-houses  with  grass  roofs,  and  to  allow  their 
women  to  do  much  of  the  drudgery.  Cleanliness  is  not 
nearly  so  general  as  it  might  be,  and  domestic  economy 
is  quite  in  its  infancy.  The  lot  of  peasant  and  pro- 
prietor is  much  the  same.  Few  people  are  rich,  save 
possibly  some  of  the  traders  and  ship-owners. 

If  in  any  sense  it  were  justifiable  to  compare  Nor- 
way with  the  United  States,  I  could  but  style  it  a  very 
"  slow  "  country.  The  people  do  not  lack  intelligence, 
but  they  certainly  are  wanting  in  ambition,  energy,  en- 
terprise and  business  tact.  In  many  places  where  the 
peasants  seemed  to  be  greatly  suffering  from  poverty 
and  their  alleged  inability  to  get  a  decent  living  from 
the  soil,  I  suggested  to  them  the  feasibility  of  vastly 
increasing  the  facilities  for  reaching  the  wonderful 
landscapes  of  the  interior,  of  building  comfortable  ho- 
tels, of  making  tracks  through  the  forests  to  famous 
waterfalls,  and  of  furnishing  better  classes  of  vehicles 
for  traversing  the  rough  mountain  roads  ;  for  all  of 
which  travellers  would  be  only  too  glad  to  pay,  and 
which  would  serve  at  the  same  time  to  greatly  increase 


COUNTRY,  CHARACTER,  AND    CUSTOMS.     10 1 

the  amount  of  foreign  travel  to  the  country.  It  seemed 
quite  a  new  thought  to  them.  They  had  fish  and  pota- 
toes to  eat,  a  log  hut  with  one  room  for  a  family  of  a 
dozen  to  live  in,  and  homespun  clothes  which  were 
warm  enough  for  winter  and  could  be  exactly  graded  to 
the  variations  of  summer  temperature  by  the  simple 
process  of  removing  piece  after  piece.  Why  trouble 
themselves  ?  No,  indeed,  the  foreigners  who  were 
funny  enough,  or  crazy  enough,  to  scramble  over  ten 
miles  of  rough  rock  to  see  a  simple  stream  of  water  run- 
ning over  a  precipice  because  it  had  to  go  somewhere  ; 
the  tourist  who  was  anxious  to  drive  through  a  hundred 
miles  of  dirt  and  dust  merely  to  be  able  to  stand  at  last 
in  the  midst  of  a  green  valley  or  at  the  foot  of  a  moun- 
tain glacier,  might  continue  to  do  so,  without  any  of  the 
luxuries  of  travel,  for  all  they  cared. 

It  is  a  comfortable  thing  for  these  peasants  that 
there  are  no  heavy  taxes  in  Norway,  and  that  such  as 
exist  fall  upon  the  importers,  the  rich,  and  not  the  poor. 
The  protective  duties  are  high  but  still  native  manufac- 
tures do  not  seem  to  make  any  headway.  The  difficulty 
of  obtaining  a  livelihood  at  home  drives  many  of  the 
Norwegians  to  the  United  States.  Thus  in  1869, 
18,000  emigrated  hither  ;  in  1S72,  15.000;  and  in  1873, 
10,000.  Since  the  latter  year  emigration  has  been 
gradually  falling  off,  having  had  an  annual  range  of 
from  only  3,000  to  5,000.  The  men  work  for  the  most 
part  as  farm-hands,  the  women  find  employment  in  the 
dairies.  They  go  generally,  as  I  have  said  in  the 
Preface,  to  the  Western  States — to  Minnesota,  Illinois, 


102  NORSK',  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

Wisconsin,  and  Iowa.  A  comparatively  few  settle  in 
Massachusetts.  They  never  return  to  Norway  save  on 
short  visits  to  their  relatives.  Often  they  are  not  only 
too  poor  to  emigrate  to  another  country,  but  even  to 
seek  out  better  portions  of  their  own  land.  I  asked 
some  of  the  people  living  at  the  base  of  a  mountain  on 
the  Hardanger  fiord  why  they  did  not  go  to  the  more 
fertile  districts  about  Christiania  or  Trondjhem,  and 
they  replied  that  they  were  too  poor  to  pay  the  trifling 
cost  of  moving,  to  say  nothing  of  being  able  to  purchase 
a  farm  when  they  reached  their  destination. 

The  Norwegians  are  a  tall,  hardy,  long-lived  race. 
They  are    simple,  hospitable,   patriotic    and    religious. 
Their  features  have   a  strong  tendency  to  the  German 
type.     Many   of  the  women  are   quite  pretty  and   the 
children  especially  so,  though  the  severe  climate,  or  a 
toilsome  life,  or  a  general  ignorance  of  hygiene,  tends 
soon  to  deprive  them   of  their  bloom.      Education  is 
almost  compulsory,  from   the  fact   that  the  clergy  will 
confirm  no   one  until  he   has  had  a  certain  amount  of 
schooling,  and  such  confirmation   is   a  very   desirable 
means  of  preferment  in  public  and  private  life.     It  is, 
therefore,  difficult  to  find  any  who  cannot  read,  write, 
and  cipher.      The   Norwegians    are  also   generally  an 
honest,  sober,   law-abiding  people.       It  is  proved   by 
statistics  that  Norway  is  the  only  country  in  Europe  in 
which  the  number  of  suicides  is  not  increasing.     This 
fact  is  attributed  to   the  stringent  regulations  against 
drunkenness   which  are  in  force  there  ;  for  this  loath- 
some vice  everywhere  causes  from  thirty  to  forty  per 


COUNTRY,  CHARACTER,  AND    CUSTOMS.     103 

cent  of  the  suicides  which  prevail.  Murders  are  almost 
unknown.  The  special  punishment  allotted  to  this 
crime  by  the  criminal  code,  though  very  rarely  en- 
forced, is  that  of  decapitation  with  a  sword,  as  in 
China,  Japan,  and  Morocco. 

The  Norwegian  houses,  mostly  built  of  wood,  save 
in  the  large  towns,  are  often  very  attractive  in  their  in- 
teriors. They  are  furnished  as  a  rule  quite  plainly, 
with  but  few  chattels,  and  before  the  pretty  lace  cur- 
tains of  many  sitting-room  windows  one  often  sees, 
from  the  street,  banks  of  beautiful  flowers  neatly  ar- 
ranged in  porcelain  pots.  The  floors  are  either  bare  or 
covered  with  oil-cloth.  Looking-glasses  are  common, 
though  small.  Beds  are  merely  short  and  narrow 
boxes — just  about  large  enough  for  the  doubled-up 
body  of  a  Peruvian  mummy.  The  ceilings,  which  are 
at  the  same  time  the  floors  of  the  room  overhead,  render 
all  words  spoken  and  all  movements  made  above  dis- 
tinctly heard  below.  The  walls  are  often  made  of 
simple  canvas,  painted.  This  people  seem  to  have  no 
knowledge  of  ventilation.  In  fact,  they  have  a  morbid 
dread  of  fresh  air.  Scarcely  any  provision  is  made  for 
its  admittance  into  their  churches,  theatres,  houses,  or 
steamers.  And  like  the  Germans  and  Russians,  eight 
or  more  persons,  all  smoking,  will  sit,  on  a  cold  night,  in 
the  compartment  of  a  railway  carriage  with  the  windows 
entirely  closed.  On  a  steamer  I  have  been  one  of  six- 
teen persons  who  slept  in  a  small  cabin,  the  door  and 
windows  of  which  were  all  tightly  shut,  except  a  single 
""bull's-eye  "  not  more  than  six  inches  in  diameter. 


104  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

Though  the  Norwegians  surpass  the  Icelanders, 
with  whom  there  is  some  propriety  in  contrasting  them, 
in  the  comfort  of  their  dwellings,  in  dress  they  are 
rather  behind  them.  The  clothes  of  both  men  and 
women  suggest  the  style  of  a  century  ago.  None  of 
them  fit,  and  the  contrast  oi"  colors  is  most  amusing.  In 
many  of  the  distantly-rural  parts  you  sometimes,  though 
rarely  nowadays,  see  the  picturesque  costumes  of  the 
peasantry.  This  class  of  the  people,  for  the  most  part, 
make  their  own  clothing  and  shoes.  Their  wants  are 
very  few  and  they  buy  nothing  that  they  can  possibly 
manufacture  in  their  houses  or  produce  on  their 
lands. 

In  Norway  no  special  degree  of  respect  is  shown 
the  women.  They  are  generally  left  to  shift  for  them- 
selves, and  this  they  are  not  slow  in  doing,  naturally  to 
their  own  advantage.  Like  the  Danes,  the  Norwegians 
are  extravagantly  polite  to  each  other  in  the  streets. 
They  are  continually  removing  and  replacing  their  hats. 
In  a  small  town  where  one  meets  one's  acquaintances 
perhaps  a  dozen  times  a  day,  you  may  imagine  what  a 
nuisance  this  custom  becomes.  Spitting,  and  without 
the  provocation  of  either  pipe,  cigar,  chewing  tobacco, 
or  even  influenza,  is  a  national  bad  habit.  Like  that  of 
the  American  repeating  voters,  early  and  often  seems 
to  be  their  motto.  I  have  seen  persons  spit  upon  the 
floor  before  company  in  their  own  parlors.  On  the 
steamers,  though  the  sea  is  so  convenient,  the  deck  is 
generally  covered  with  spittle.  The  spittoon  is  a  domes 
tic  article  quite  unknown.     The  genius  for  expectora- 


COUNTRY,  CHARACTER,  AND    CUSTOMS.     10$ 

tion  is  certainly  not  limited  to  the  United  States  poli- 
tician. 

The  Norwegians   are  not  epicures,  nor  even  what 
might  be   termed  good  livers.      They  have  but  little 
variety  on  their  tables ;  the  food  is  not  always  of  good 
quality;  and  even  if  the  original  material  is  good,  it  is 
pretty  certain  to  be  spoiled  in  the  cooking.     The  Nor- 
wegian manner  of  preparing  and  dressing  victuals   I 
must  emphasize  as  especially  bad.     Fish  and  potatoes 
may  be  called  the  staple  diet  of  the  whole  country.     A 
cup  of  coffee  is  usually  taken  upon  rising  in  the  morn- 
ing.   Then  at  nine  o'clock  comes  breakfast.    This  meal 
is  usually  preceded  by  a  very  small  glass   of  brandy, 
flavored  with  caraway  seeds.     Upon  the  table  are  many 
small  dishes  of  cold  ham,  tongue,  sausage,  anchovies, 
sardines,  and  several  kinds  of  cheese.    Sometimes  these 
dishes  are  served  upon  a  sideboard,  to  which  periodical 
visits  from  the  table  are  made.     Then  some  warm  fish 
and  potatoes   are  brought   in.     These  are  ravenously 
attacked,  and  next  the  cold  dishes  are  apt  to  be  pounced 
upon  again,  and  the  most  outrageous  dietetical  crimes 
are  unblushingly  perpetrated.     Beefsteaks  and  mutton- 
chops  are  rarely  seen.     Dinner  is  usually  served  at  two 
o'clock.     It  consists  of  soup,  fish,  meat  and  pudding  ; 
there  is  rarely  any  fruit,  save  a  kind  of  pickled  currant, 
which  is  eaten  with  the  meat.     Good  beer,  and  claret 
which  is  rarely  good,  are   the  popular  drinks.     Upon 
rising  from  the  table  it  is  etiquette  to  say  something 
(in  Norsk,  of  course,)  to  the  effect  that  you  have  made 
a  good  meal — how  often  a  gastronomic  perjury! — bow- 


106  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

ing  at  the  same  time  right  and  left,  and  to  your  vis-a-vis 
This  recalls  the  pretty  and  graceful  table-benediction, 
"Gesegnete  Mahlzeit"  (May  the  meal  be  blessed  to 
you),  which  one  hears  all  over  Germany.  Supper  is 
ready  at  eight  or  nine.  Like  breakfast,  it  is  begun  with 
a  small  glass  of  aquavit,  followed  generally  with  beer, 
though  sometimes  with  tea.  The  supper  table  resem- 
bles the  breakfast  table,  except  in  the  species  of  the 
genus  cheese.  Thus  I  have  frequently  seen  six  varie- 
ties of  coagulated  curd  on  the  table  at  the  same  time, 
one  or  two  of  them  being  quite  good,  but  several  native 
kinds  rank  and  more  distasteful  to  an  American  palate 
than  the  reindeer  cheese  of  the  Laplanders.  Many 
gentlemen  take  a  glass  of  hot  brandy-toddy  before 
retiring  for  the  night. 

Table  manners  are  at  a  low  ebb  in  Norway.  Con- 
sistency does  not  seem  to  be  regarded  as  a  jewel.  The 
same  people  who  bow  so  very  ceremoniously  to  each 
other  and  express  sympathy  and  interest  in  the  veriest 
trifles  of  life,  and  who  dance  and  grimace  fully  five 
minutes  at  an  open  door  before  they  can  determine 
which  shall  enter  first,  are  exceedingly  ill-bred  during 
meal  time.  Their  knives  wander  so  far  down  their 
throats  that  one  must  at  least  admire  their  courage, 
though  failing  to  appreciate  its  object.  In  these  feats 
they  rival  the  professional  knife-swallowers  of  Bombay. 
They  hold  their  forks  like  pens.  Even  a  four-tined 
fork  is  not  considered  too  unwieldy  to  use  as  a  tooth- 
pick. All  knives  are  put  promiscuously  into  the  butter 
dish,  which  indeed  is  never  provided  with  a  separate 


COUNTRY,   CHARACTER,  AND    CUSTOMS.     IOJ 

implement.  Also  when  spoons  are  furnished  a  public 
dish,  a  Norwegian  generally  prefers  using  his  own. 
Eggs  are  sucked  from  the  shells.  The  people  eat  most 
voraciously,  displaying  the  appetites  of  tigers,  and  mak- 
ing disagreeable  noises  with  their  mouths.  They  rise 
and  reach  across  the  table  for  something  you  could 
readily  pass  to  them,  and  sometimes  a  person  gets  up 
and  walks  to  the  end  of  the  table  for  some  particular 
dish  he  fancies.  When  the  plates  are  changed  at  the 
end  of  a  course,  the  knives  and  forks  are  apt  to  be 
simply  wiped  by  the  waiter  upon  a  towel  in  full  sight, 
and  then  complacently  returned  to  you.  And  yet  it 
was  the  Scandinavians  who  won  from  Voltaire  the 
praise  of  being  the  "  Frenchmen  of  the  North,"  on 
account  of  their  punctilious  politeness.  Kind-hearted 
and   well-meaning,   but    surely  somewhat  deluded   old 


man 


I 


It  is  always  difficult  to  characterize  at  one  and  the 
same  time  the  national  traits  of  an  entire  people.  The 
foregoing  remarks,  therefore,  may  be  understood  to 
apply  rather  to  the  middling  classes,  the  well-to-do 
gentlemen — merchants,  farmers,  and  government  offi- 
cials— whom  the  foreigner  is  most  apt  to  encounter  in 
the  hotels,  on  the  steamers  and  cars,  and  occasionally 
in  private  houses  during  his  travels  about  the  country. 
Of  course  the  refined  gentleman  is  hardly  the  less  so, 
whether  you  find  him  a  native  of  the  burning  sands 
of  Arabia  or  of  the  wild  fastnesses  of  South  Africa. 
Stanley  says  "the  conduct  of  an  Arab  gentleman  is 
perfect,"  and  Parker  Gilmore  writes  that  he  found  the 


108  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

king  of  the  Bechuanas  "  in  every  respect  a  gentleman — 
in  appearance  excessively  well-bred,  and  in  his  language 
courteous  and  considerate."  But  certainly  many  of  the 
Norwegians  must  have  had  good  educations  and  been 
brought  up  in  good  society,  or  at  least  have  associated 
long  enough  with  foreigners  to  have  learned  to  imitate 
more  of  their  good  qualities.  In  any  event  it  is  a  sig- 
nificant fact — and  in  this  connection  I  call  to  mind  also 
the  Spaniards  —  that  people  can  be  at  one  and  the 
same  time  extremely  polite  and  excessively  vulgar. 

The  peculiar  form  of  government  of  this  nation  was 
to  me  an  interesting  study.  Norway  is  a  limited  con- 
stitutional monarchy.  As  far  as  the  making  of  war  or 
peace  and  the  being  represented  at  foreign  courts,  Nor- 
way and  Sweden  are  one  State,  but  in  other  respects 
they  are  two  distinct  sovereignties,  quite  independent 
of  each  other.  Norway,  in  its  constitution  and  methods 
of  government,  has  always  been  more  democratic  than 
her  neighbor.  She  is  assimilated  in  feeling  to  our  re- 
public, while  the  government  of  the  sister  nation  is 
rather  of  the  English  type.  Norway  has  her  own  par- 
liament called  the  Storthing,  while  the  legislature  of 
Sweden  is  termed  the  Diet.  Norway  has  a  national 
bank,  and  is  only  responsible  for  the  debts  which  she 
herself  may  contract.  The  business  of  the  government 
is  divided  into  seven  departments  :  the  treasury,  the 
home,  the  judicial,  the  navy  and  post,  the  war,  the  ec- 
clesiastical,  and  the  audit  departments.  The  executive 
power  is  vested  in  the  sovereign,  whose  full  title  is 
"  King  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  the  Goths  and  Vandals." 


COUNTRY,   CHARACTER,  AND    CUSTOMS.     IO9 

The  latter  part  of  this  title  seems  somewhat  equivocal 
in  the  honor  it  conveys. 

Apropos  of  royalty  and  rank,  I  may  say  that  in 
Norway  there  is  no  nobility,  no  aristocratic  class  ;  but 
in  Sweden,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  the  German  cus- 
tom that  every  count's  son  shall  be  a  count,  and  every 
baron's  son  a  baron,  the  nobility  is  not  only  very  nu- 
merous but,  singularly  enough,  also  very  proud  and 
very  poor.  The  multitude  of  titles  is  perfectly  bewil- 
dering. Of  the  Swedish  orders  of  knighthood  that  of 
the  Seraphim  is  regarded  as  the  highest,  being  bestowed 
only  upon  crowned  heads  and  persons  of  the  greatest 
distinction.  It  was  recently  and  most  worthily  given 
to  the  renowned  Swedish  navigator,  Nordenskiold,  about 
whom  all  the  world  has  lately  been  talking.  The  deco- 
ration of  the  Polar  Star  is  chiefly  confined  to  men  of 
science.  There  are  four  or  five  other  orders,  but  they 
are  so  indiscriminately  conferred  as  not  to  be  held 
in  any  very  great  esteem.  In  this  respect  they  resemble 
a  well-known  French  order  founded  by  the  First  Consul 
— a  legion  having  as  members  only  about  50,000  cheva- 
liers and  10,000  officers — and  so  frequently  to  be  seen 
in  the  streets  of  Paris  that  a  stranger  would  be  almost 
justified  in  inquiring  who  the  people  without  red  rib- 
bons in  their  coat  lapels  were.  In  France,  it  may  be 
mentioned,  in  passing,  there  are  upwards  of  five  hun- 
dred dukes  !  But  I  believe  the  government  does  not 
even  take  into  consideration  the  myriad  of  counts. 

The  Norwegian  parliament  consists  of  an  upper 
and  a  lower  house,   corresponding   somewhat   to  our 


1 10  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

Senate  and  House  of  Representatives.  At  present 
there  are  about  one  hundred  national  representatives. 
These  are  not  returned  directly  by  those  entitled  to 
vote,  but  by  certain  electors,  who  are  chosen  for  every 
town  and  parish  by  the  resident  voters.  Suffrage  is 
not  universal  in  Norway.  To  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
voting,  you  must  be  at  least  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
must  have  lived  five  years  in  the  kingdom,  and  must 
be  living  there  at  the  time  of  the  election.  You  must 
also  possess  or  have  farmed,  for  the  space  of  five  years, 
registered  estate  in  the  country  ;  or  be  the  owner  of 
house  property  in  some  town  or  village,  of  the  value  of 
$336  of  our  money.  Any  person  thirty  years  of  age,  ten 
years  resident  of  the  kingdom,  and  a  professor  of  the  Lu- 
theran faith,  may  be  sent  to  the  legislature.  Only  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  or  State  church  are  admitted  to 
office.  In  this  matter  of  belief,  Norway  resembles  all  Eu- 
ropean countries  excepting  England  and  France,  where 
religious  dissent  is  not  a  bar  to  political  advancement. 
As  soon  as  the  session  has  commenced,  in  the  month 
of  February  generally,  the  parliament  elects  one-quarter 
of  its  body  as  the  Lagthing  or  Upper  House.  The 
functions  of  this  assembly  are  deliberative  and  judicial. 
The  remaining  three-quarters  constitute  the  Odolsthing 
or  Lower  House,  in  which  all  enactments  are  instituted. 
Though  the  king  has  the  power  of  veto,  it  appears 
that  in  using  it  he  has  recently  made  himself  very  un- 
popular. A  bill  requiring  members  of  the  Cabinet  to 
attend  the  meetings  of  the  parliament  was  passed  four 
times  and  on  each  occasion  by  an  overwhelming  majority, 


COUNTRY,  CHARACTER,  AND   CUSTOMS.     Ill 

the  king's  veto  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  The 
latest  news  from  Norway  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Swed- 
ish and  Norwegian  press  are  excitedly  discussing  the 
demands  made  by  some  of  the  Norwegians  for  the  re- 
peal of  the  act  of  Union  and  the  establishment  of  a 
Norwegian  republic.  The  Swedish  journals  maintain 
that  the  honor  of  Sweden  is  involved  in  this  contest, 
and  that  strong  measures  to  maintain  the  integrity  of 
the  Union  should  be  employed  if  necessary.  The  rela- 
tions between  the  king  and  the  Norwegian  parliament 
are  very  strained,  a  large  majority  having  denied  his 
right  of  final  veto.  The  peasant  farmers  have  a  major- 
ity in  the  parliament,  which  in  great  part  explains  the 
present  condition  of  affairs.  The  Norwegian  national 
party  desire  to  show  that  the  supreme  power  rests  with 
the  people,  not  with  the  king,  who  rules  them  by  suffer- 
ance. 

Notwithstanding  the  political  disagreements  at  home, 
the  foreign  trade  of  Norway  is  increasing.  At  present, 
in  proportion  to  population,  she  has  the  largest  com- 
mercial navy  in  the  world.  In  1878  the  imports 
amounted  to  about  $47,500,000  and  the  exports  were  a 
trifle  over  $30,000,000.  Nickel  is  fast  becoming  a 
noted  export  of  the  country.  In  1875,  fourteen  mines 
of  this  useful  metal  had  been  opened,  and  during  that 
year  about  35,000  tons  were  shipped  to  foreign  ports. 

Though  the  population  of  Norway  has  doubled 
since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  it  still  num- 
bers no  more  than  1,800,000,  or  less  than  the  city  of 
Paris.     The  inhabited  area  is  only  20  per  cent  of  the 


112  NORSK.  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

entire  country.  There  are  but  fourteen  individuals  to 
the  square  mile,  whereas  in  Great  Britain  there  are 
265  and  in  Belgium  469.  In  Finland  the  rate  is  still 
less  than  in  Norway,  in  fact,  it  is  the  lowest  of  any 
country  in  Europe,  viz.  13  inhabitants  to  the  square 
mile.  The  islands  contain  one-eighth,  and  the  coast 
region  more  than  one-half  of  the  total  population  of 
Norway.  Nearly  15,000  people  dwell  at  an  elevation  of 
2,000  feet  above  the  sea. 

My  impressions  of  the  country,  in  brief,  are  that 
though  much  of  its  superficial  area  is  water  and  rock, 
yet  with  a  display  of  greater  energy  and  enterprise,  it 
might  be  made  vastly  more  productive  in  all  its  re- 
sources— animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral.  The  Nor- 
wegians are  honorable  and  amiable,  free  from  destruc- 
tive passions  and  pernicious  prejudices.  They  have  no 
special  bent  of  mind,  no  vaulting  ambition  to  fire  the 
world,  but  are  fond  of  a  quiet,  simple  life,  with  kinsfolk 
and  friends,  and  home  employments  and  enjoyments. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
A  Day  at  North  Cape. 

In  going  on  to  the  northward  from  Hammerfest,  the 
mountains,  if  not  so  lofty,  become  wilder  and  even  more 
desolate  looking.  They  are  of  a  dull  brown  color  and 
quite  barren  of  vegetation.  We  passed  a  small  island 
where  the  most  northerly  lighthouse  on  the  globe  guides 
the  mariner  on  his  voyage  to  the  Polar  Sea  and  wel- 
comes him  home  again  from  its  perilous  experiences. 
As  I  have  already  said,  the  object  of  most  travellers  in 
going  so  far  north  is  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  sun  shining 
at  midnight.  I  was  a  few  days  too  late  to  see  it  exactly 
at  that  hour,  but  as  there  was  plenty  of  light  all  the 
evening,  the  presence  of  the  sun  would  not  have  seemed 
at  all  remarkable.  In  this  singular  region  of  the  earth 
the  nights  are  illumined,  so  to  speak,  by  the  midnight 
sun  in  summer,  and  the  aurora  borealis  in  winter.  Of 
these  phenomena  I  was  told  the  latter  is,  in  its  magic 
splendor,  by  far  the  most  interesting.  We  have  had  no 
better  description  of  the  midnight  sun  than  that  given 
in  his  "  Northern  Travel "  by  Bayard  Taylor,  some 
twenty-five  years  ago. 

The  North  Cape  is  the  northern  extremity  of  a 
ragged,   star-shaped   island   called   Mageroe,   or   Lean 


1 14  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

Island.  This  is  at  least  a  very  appropriate  name,  for  it 
is  a  perfect  picture  of  barrenness.  Upon  it,  however, 
are  a  few  animals — reindeer,  hare,  and  ermine.  On  the 
eastern  side  also  are  one  or  two  small  fishing-stations  of 
Norwegians  and  Lapps. 

1  A  never-to-be-forgotten  day  was  that  on  which,  my 
steamer  having  rounded  the  long  and  comparatively 
smooth  headland  of  Knivskjaelodde,  I  saw  before  me 
the  goal  of  my  long  journey,  the  North  Cape  of  Europe 
— a  huge  mass  of  dark  mica  slate,  with  a  perpendicular 
front  scarred  and  weather-beaten  by  ages  of  storm. 
The  rock  is  much  too  precipitous  to  be  ascended  on 
the  western  or  northern  sides,  and  so  we  double  it,  with 
•feelings  similar,  I  fancy,  to  those  of  Vasco  de  Gama 
when  doubling  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  steamer 
anchors  in  a  little  bight  and  we  are  rowed  ashore  in  one 
of  her  boats.  After  a  stiff  climb  of  twenty  minutes,  we 
reach  the  plateau  of  the  cape,  about  a  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea.  The  surface  is  bestrewn  with  small 
sandstones,  mica  slate,  white  quartz  rocks,  and  coarse 
grass  and  moss.  It  is  a  very  desolate  region.  Every- 
thing seems  dead.  We  walk  across  the  plain  to  the 
brink  of  the  cliff.  Here,  defiantly  facing  the  North 
Pole,  a  red  granite  column  commemorating  the  present 
king's  visit  has  been  erected.  Beneath  a  carved  and 
gay-colored  crown  is  an  inscription  in  Norwegian, 
which  simply  states  the  fact  that  H.  M.  Oscar  II. 
ascended  "  Nordkop  "  on  the  2d  of  July,  1873.  From 
this  position  the  view  to  the  south  is  closed  by  the 
higher  parts  of  Mageroe  ;  on  the  west  you  see  the  sum- 


A    DAY  AT  NOR  TH   CAPE.  1 1  5 

mits  of  Hjelmesven  and  Rolfsven,  and  almost  beneath 
you,  the  long  low  promontory  of  Knivskjaelodde  ;  to  the 
north  lies  the  vast  expanse  of  the  Polar  Sea,  with  not  a 
sail  in  sight ;  while  to  the  east  faintly  appears  on  the 
verge  of  the  horizon  the  outline  of  the  rocky  peninsula 
of  Nordkyn,  the  most  northerly  point  of  continental 
Europe,  and  strongly  resembling  North  Cape  in  its 
configuration. 

It  is  a  dark  misty  morning,  throwing  into  bolder 
relief  the  sombre  cliffs  around  which  sea-birds  screech 
and  beating  breakers  awaken  echoes  long  and  loud. 
My  comrades  have  rejoined  the  steamer.  Alone  I  sit 
and  look  out,  far  out  toward  the  Pole,  as  if  I  were 
about  to  penetrate  the  secrets  which  it  has  guarded  so 
long  and  faithfully.  I  gaze  upon  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
now  so  calm,  but  often,  as  the  rocks  below  abundantly 
testify,  so  majestic  and  awfuj,  when  lashed  to  fury  by 
the  circumpolar  tempests.  Far  off,  as  my  chart  indicates, 
lies  the  island  of  Spitzbergen  ;  and  yonder,  still  farther 
away,  are  the  islands  of  Nova  Zembla.  I  feel  as  if  I 
were  now  indeed  upon  the  threshold  of  the  unknown. 
Such  emotions  rarely  come,  except  to  the  most  insatia- 
ble nomad.  A  solemn  stillness  reigns  upon  the  forbid- 
ding cliff.  There  is  no  evidence  of  man  anywhere. 
There  are  no  habitations,  no  tracks,  no  trees  ;  naught 
but  rocks  and  moss  and  sand.     I  am 

"  Alone,  alone,  all,  all  alone, 
Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea." 

The  feeling  becomes  oppressive.    A  phantom  influence, 


Il6  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

like  that  proceeding  from  some  mysterious  and  super-, 
natural  being  imprisoned  within  a  tomb  of  ice,  hovers 
around  me.  Muffled  voices,  more  or  less  than  human, 
come  breathing  from  those  never-seen  regions  where 
frost  rules  absolute  amid  spectral  splendors  that  we 
dream  not  of. 

But  no  !  I  am  not  all  alone,  for  our  steamer  is 
rounding  the  point  and  steaming  towards  the  cliff.  We 
had  received  on  board,  at  Hammerfest,  an  enterprising 
photographer,  from  Berlin,  who  was  making  a  business 
tour  through  Norway.  That  he  might  the  better  photo- 
graph the  cape,  our  steamer  moved  around  to  the  west 
side,  where  the  most  favorable  view  was  to  be  had.  As 
she  passed  my  position  the  steam-whistle  was  blown 
and  the  crew  cheered.  I  heard  all  most  distinctly, 
though  I  was  a  long  distance  off  and  nearly  a  thousand 
feet  above  them.  It  is  doubtful  if  North  Cape  ever 
witnessed  a  more  vigorous  one-man-power  attempt  at 
noise  than  I  perpetrated  in  return,  though,  as  I  after- 
wards learned,  my  phonetics  were  far  less  expressive 
than  my  frenzied  pantomime.  I  walked  across  the 
cape  to  its  inland  extremity,  but  found  it  all  alike — a 
dreary  wilderness  of  moss  and  stone,  with  an  occasional 
morass.  Then  having  gathered  some  specimens  of  the 
lichen  and  rocks,  and  being  successful  also  in  discover- 
ing a  few  field  flowerets  for  my  herbarium,  I  returned 
down  the  steep  cliff  to  the  steamer,  which  had  in  the 
meanwhile  come  to  the  end  of  its  artistic  tour.  Later 
we  breakfasted  off  some  splendid  large  fish  which  one 
of  the  officers  had  caught  during  my  absence. 


A    DAY  AT  NORTH  CAPE.  Iiy 

The  promontory  of  Knivskjaelodde,  and  not,  as  is 
generally  believed,  North  Cape,  is  really  the  most  north- 
erly point  of  Norway  and  of  Europe.  It  projects  be- 
yond North  Cape  at  least  half  a  mile,  but  as  it  lies  low, 
while  North  Cape  is  high  and  prominent,  the  latter  will 
perhaps  always  be  called  the  most  northerly  headland. 
The  translation  of  the  name  Knivskjaelodde  is  "knife- 
cut  point,"  which  pretty  accurately  describes  its  phys- 
ical conformation.  It  is  a  sharp  and  narrow  promon- 
tory about  equally  composed  of  battered  and  smoothed 
rocks.  As  we  were  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  a  photog- 
rapher, I  embraced  the  opportunity  of  having  a  picture 
taken  of  this  point  which  should  also  include  the  cap- 
tain, in  addition  to  three  passengers,  of  whom  I  was 
one.  This  was  to  be  a  souvenir  of  a  visit  very  seldom 
if  ever  made  before,  as  the  sea  is  generally  too  rough, 
and  the  period  of  the  steamer's  stay  too  brief,  to  permit 
travelers  to  land,  should  they  so  desire.  Besides,  if  the 
weather  happened  to  be  pleasant,  it  has  always  been 
customary  to  disembark  upon  the  North  Cape  and 
upon  that  only. 

After  the  photographer  pronounces  the  negative 
satisfactory,  we  amuse  ourselves  by  scrambling  over  the 
rocks  to  the  uttermost  limit  of  the  promontory.  It  is 
quite  low  tide,  and  we  crawl  in  eager  rivalry  over  the 
slippery  wet  surface  to  the  very  margin  of  the  water, 
and  even  there  stretch  out  our  legs  and  feet  over  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  poleward.  It  is  an  exciting  contest,  at- 
tended with  some  danger  of  a  sudden  cold  and  briny 
bath,  but  the  author  is  successful  at  last,  Nature  having 


Il8  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

favored  him  with  lengthier  means  of  self-extension  than 
his  companions.  He  is  half  inclined  to  flatter  himself, 
therefore,  that  he  has  been  farther  north  in  Europe 
than  any  one  else  in  the  world.  But  he  wishes  it  dis- 
tinctly understood  that,  "  owing  to  a  press  of  other 
business,"  he  cannot  at  present  accept  any  challenges. 

Doubtless  there  are  some  sturdy  solemn  minds  to 
whom  all  this  may  seem  very  foolish  work,  who  may 
even  wish  to  quote  to  me  those  lines  of  Isaac  Watts 
upon  "False  Greatness,"  beginning 

"  Were  I  so  tall  to  reach  the  pole, 
Or  grasp  the  ocean  with  my  span, 
I  must  be  measur'd  by  my  soul : 
The  mind's  the  standard  of  the  man." 

I  have  not  space  here  to  argue  this  point,  but  these 
wretched  detractors  must  at  least  admit  that  ours  was  a 
pleasing  conceit,  an  innocent  diversion  that  certainly 
added  a  spice  to  the  more  severe  travel-study.  Another 
similar  instance  in  my  personal  experience  was  on  the 
watershed  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  at  the  sources 
of  two  rivers,  where,  having  carried  water  from  one 
stream  to  the  other,  I  entertained  myself  with  the 
thought  of  having  thwarted  Nature,  by  sending  into 
the  Pacific  Ocean  some  water  plainly  intended  for  the 
Atlantic. 

North  Cape  at  a  distance  reminds  me  very  much  of 
Cape  Horn,  the  southernmost  point  of  South  America, 
though  this  is  in  a  latitude  about  twenty  degrees  further 
north,  than  that  is  south,  of  the  Equator.      Both  are 


A    DAY  AT  NORTH   CAPE.  II9 

dark,  rugged  cliffs  situated  upon  islands.  Their  differ- 
ence in  height  is  but  little  over  two  hundred  feet. 
Both  are  alike  the  homes  of  myriads  of  sea-birds.  Both 
are  beaten  upon  by  Polar  winds  and  waves.  And 
though  the  route  for  vessels  around  Cape  Horn  is  most 
important,  and  of  course  most  frequented,  I  think  that 
there  will,  before  many  years,  be  a  steamer  route  around 
North  Cape  to  the  mouth  of  the  great  Siberian  River 
Yenessei,  and  even  to  the  Lena,  which  penetrate  to  the 
borders  of  China,  whose  important  trade  will  thus  be 
more  readily  secured  for  Europe  and  America.  The 
discoveries  of  Prof.  Nordenskiold  hold  out  bright  hopes 
that  such  will  be  the  case,  for,  during  two  months  in  the 
autumn,  the  ice  so  far  releases  itself  from  the  northern 
coasts  of  Europe  and  Asia  as  to  make  this  a  practicable 
route  for  steel  steamers. 

After  waiting  to  see  what  steps,  if  any,  the  Scandi- 
navian and  Chinese  governments  intend  taking  in 
furtherance  of  such  a  grand  and  important  commercial 
scheme,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Russian  strategists 
are  already  profiting  by  Nordenskiold's  achievements. 
The  government  has  recently  purchased  in  Sweden 
three  fast  steamers,  which  are  about  to  be  dispatched 
around  Northern  Europe  and  up  the  rivers  Obi  and 
Irtish  to  Semipolatinsk,  a  town  near  the  Russo-Chinese 
frontier.  By  this  expedient  an  enormous  saving  of  time 
and  fatigue  to  the  soldiery  will  be  effected  in  conveying 
reinforcements  from  Russia  Proper  to  the  extreme  east- 
ern limit  of  the  Empire,  whence  a  few  forced  marches 
will  bring  them  to  the  Chinese  frontier,  should  the  com- 


120  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

plications  still  pending  between  Peking  and  St.  Peters- 
burg result  in  war. 

North  Cape  and  the  surrounding  headlands  and 
fiords  are  said  to  yield  a  wondrous  scene  when  irradia- 
ted by  the  golden  gleams  of  the  midnight  sun.  The 
brush  of  a  Turner  only,  and  not  even  the  pen  of  a 
Taylor,  could  then  do  full  justice  to  them.  I  thought 
of  remaining  over  night  on  the  grim  old  promontory, 
but  the  steamer  having  returned,  it  would  then  be  ne- 
cessary to  walk  a  long  distance  to  one  of  the  fishing 
stations  where  a  sailboat  and  men  willing  to  take  me 
back  to  Hammerfest  would  probably  be  found.  The 
distance  to  the  latter  being  nearly  a  hundred  miles,  the 
fear  of  contrary  winds  and  heavy  weather  caused  me 
reluctantly  to  renounce  my  intention.  So  we  steamed 
away  to  the  southwest,  back  from  Nature's  weird  do- 
main to  man's  bold  aerie,  while  low-lying  Knivskjaelodde 
rapidly  faded  from  view.  What  a  relief  it  was  to  quit 
such  a  scene  of  desolation  !  Thousands  of  sea-birds 
were  crowded  together  upon  some  of  the  small  islands. 
It  is  said  that  nearly  every  fowl  of  Northern  Europe 
which  preys  upon  sea-fish  is  to  be  found  upon  the  coasts 
of  Norway.  But  never  a  song  bird  is  discovered  ;  those 
delightful  minstrels  of  the  air  seem  unknown  within  the 
Arctic  Circle. 

We  left  upon  the  island  of  Maeso  one  of  our  pas- 
sengers, a  Norwegian  surgeon,  who  was  to  be  stationed 
at  a  fisherman's  hospital  there  for  three  years.  This 
hospital  is  supported  by  a  tax  on  the  province.  There 
are  1,500  fishermen  on  that  and  the  adjoining  islands. 


A    DAY  AT  NORTH  CAPE.  121 

Maeso  is  a  desolate  enough  looking  place,  with  a  few 
houses  and  a  church.  The  lot  of  this  surgeon  is  not  to 
be  envied,  notwithstanding  that  his  is  the  title  of  the 
"  most  northerly  surgeon  in  the  world." 

At  Hammerfest  I  rested  a  few  days  and  then  took 
another  steamer  south.  It  was  one  of  the  Hamburg- 
Vadso  line,  the  regular  mail  line  of  the  Norwegian 
coast.  The  steamer  was  built  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
It  was  most  comfortable  in  all  its  appointments,  and  the 
table  was  much  better  than  that  usually  met  with, 
though  there  was  still  left  a  considerable  margin  for 


',-1 


improvement.  We  had  a  number  of  English  gentlemen 
on  board,  among  them  the  Earl  of  Dudley,  who  had 
been  on  a  fishing  excursion  in  his  own  steam-yacht  far 
up  in  Northern  Finland. 

They  have  an  ingenious  method  of  getting  as  much 
as  possible  of  the  traveler's  money  on  these  Norwegian 
coasting-steamers.  Thus  :  so  much  is  paid  down  for  a 
passage-ticket,  which  you  afterwards  discover  calls  only 
for  a  berth  located  probably  in  a  small  cabin  where  there 
are  several  other  passengers.  You  also  learn,  probably 
for  the  first  time,  that  board  will  be  extra.  The  option 
is  given  of  arranging  for  a  fixed  price  per  meal,  or  if  you 
are  to  be  a  passenger  for  more  than  three  days,  so  much 
per  day,  generally  $1,50  may  be  paid.  This  entitles 
you  to  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper,  and  seems  reasona- 
ble enough,  but  when  added  during  a  long  voyage,  to  a 
very  substantial  original  passage-price,  you  discover  that 
steamer-traveling  in  Norway  is  on  the  whole  quite  ex- 
pensive. 


122  NORSK,  LAPP   AND  FINN. 

I  had  intended  to  go  only  as  far  south  as  the  town 
of   Bodo.       In    traveling   I    make    it   a  rule   never   to 
"  double    upon   my  track"  when    it   can   possibly   be 
avoided,  but  in  this  instance  it  became  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  the  comparatively  short  distance  between  North 
Cape  and  Bodo  should  be  remeasured.     Had  it  been 
the  winter  season  when  sledges  and  reindeer  could  be 
employed,  I  should  have  gone  from  Hammerfest  directly 
overland  in  a  southerly  direction  to  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia. 
As  it  was  I  decided  to  travel  from  Bodo  across  Norway 
and  Sweden  to  a  town  called  Pitea,  on  the  shores  of  a 
bay  of  like  name.     This  would  give  me  an  opportunity 
to  see  a  section  of  Scandinavia  about  as  little  known  to 
Norwegians  as  to  Europeans.       For  to  my  very  numer- 
ous inquiries,  the  stereotyped  replies  always  were,  "  there 
is  no  route  across  the  country  ;  no  one  ever  goes  that 
way  ;  you  will  have  to  sleep  in  the  forests  ;   you  will 
get  nothing  to  eat    until    you    approach    the    Swedish 
Gulf ;    you   will  find  no  horses,    perhaps    no    suitable 
boats  ;  you  will  suffer  from  cold,  wet,  heat,  mosquitoes," 
and  so  forth,  ad  nauseam.    Such  in  truth  was  the  doleful 
news  that  assailed  my  ears  from  the  south  to  the  north 
of  Norway.      But  the  prospect  did  not  at  all  alarm  me. 
I  had  heard  in  many  parts  of  Asia  very  much  worse 
accounts  of  interior  districts  that  I  wished  to  visit  and 
had  nevertheless  successfully  accomplished  my  purpose. 
All  travelers,  it  seems,  who  voyage  to   the   North 
Cape,  are  accustomed  to  return  by  the  same  route  the 
entire   distance    to    Christiania,   which,  counting   both 
ways,  occupies  about  a  month,  passed  on  board  a  small 


A    DAY  AT  NORTH  CAPE.  I23 

steamer  with  its  constant  and  unavoidable  jar,  jingle  and 
jostle.  The  mere  suggestion  of  varying  the  tour  causes 
the  average  Norwegian  to  entertain  serious  doubts  as  to 
one's  sanity.  However,  at  last,  I  determined  to  go 
ahead,  hoping,  though  of  course  not  sure,  that  I  was 
right — thus  reversing  the  famous  maxim  of  Mr.  Davy 
Crockett.  But  before  I  ask  the  reader  to  accompany 
me  on  that  little  bit  of  exploration — for  such  it  after- 
wards proved  to  be — I  have  much  to  say  about  the 
curious  race  of  dwarfs  who  occupy  the  extreme  north- 
ern parts  of  Scandinavia  and  Russia. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
With  the  Lapps  :  By  the  Sea. 

Lapland  is  the  most  northerly  country  in  Europe. 
It  may  be  roughly  said  to  comprehend  all  that  region 
lying  between  the  Polar  Ocean  and  the  Arctic  Circle, 
and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  White  Sea.  Thus 
about  two-thirds  of  it  belong  to  Russia,  and  the  remain- 
ing portion  to  Sweden  and  Norway.  The  total  area  is 
upwards  of  150,000  square  miles,  a  province  nearly  as 
large  as  our  State  of  California.  In  Lapland  Nature 
appears  in  a  garb  such  as  she  wears  nowhere  else.  But, 
though  situated  so  far  north,  it  is  not  altogether  a  region 
of  snow,  ice,  and  moss  ;  nor  is  it,  as  many  seem  to  im- 
agine, a  dreary,  monotonous  steppe,  like  Siberia.  Lap- 
land resembles  Syria,  in  that  its  surface  is  generally 
rocky  and  barren.  But  it  is  unlike  Syria  in  certain 
parts  where  the  landscape  is  very  beautiful,  and  diversi- 
fied with  fertile  valleys,  broad  rivers,  large  lakes,  and 
dense  forests.  There  is  a  body  of  fresh  water  in  Finnish 
Lapland  more  than  double  the  size  of  Lake  Champlain. 
Its  outlet  forms  part  of  the  boundary  line  between  Nor- 
way and  Russia. 

The  summers  are  short,  and,  though  very  warm 
during  the    day,   are  invariably  cool  and   delicious  at 


WITH    THE   LAPPS:    BY    THE    SEA.  12$ 

night.  The  long  twilight  is  an  especially  delightful 
period.  Even  Wordsworth,  in  one  of  his  minor  poems, 
can  find  no  more  vivid  a  comparison  than  "  lovely  as  a 
Lapland  night."  The  winters,  however,  are  long  and 
very  severe.  The  interior  and  eastern  parts  are  par- 
ticularly cold  at  this  season,  the  western  coast  being 
directly  influenced  by  the  comparatively  warm  Gulf 
Stream  of  the  Atlantic.  The  limit  of  perpetual  frost  is 
3,500  feet.  The  mean  annual  temperature  of  North 
Cape  is  thirty  degrees  above  zero,  reckoning  by  the 
scale  of  Fahrenheit. 

In  1556,  three  years  after  the  loss  of  Sir  Hugh  Wil- 
loughby,  and  one  year  before  the  death  of  Sebastian 
Cabot,  son  of  one  of  the  reputed  discoverers  of  the 
continent  of  America,  the  master  of  an  English  pinnace 
named  the  Serchthrift,  while  making  a  voyage  of  dis- 
covery to  the  northward  and  eastward  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  called  at  the  coast  of  Norway  where  the  town  of 
Vardohuus  is  now  located.  Near  here  he  finds  a  land 
called  Lappia,  and  its  inhabitants,  the  Lappians  are,  he 
writes,  "a  wild  people,  which  neither  know  God,  nor 
yet  good  order  :  and  these  people  live  in  tents  made  of 
deer-skins  :  and  they  have  no  certain  habitations,  but 
continue  in  herds  and  companies  by  one  hundred  or 
two  hundred.  And  they  are  a  people  of  small  stature, 
and  are  clothed  in  deer's  skins,  and  drink  nothing  but 
water,  and  eat  no  bread  but  flesh  all  raw."  The  re- 
mainder of  the  skipper's  journal  is  taken  up  with  what 
was  doubtless  of  much  greater  importance  in  his  eyes, 
namely,  the  commercial  prospects  of  the  voyage.     This 


126  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

brief  sketch,  however,  taken  three-and-a-quarter  centu- 
ries ago,  is  the  first  account  the  English-speaking  world 
had  of  the  existence  of  this  pigmy  race,  and  in  all  par- 
ticulars, save  their  present  bibulous  propensity,  is  essen- 
tially as  true  to-day  as  then. 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  Norway  should  pro- 
duce at  once  the  largest  and  the  smallest  men  in  Europe. 
An  American  of  average  height,  standing  in  a  crowd  of 
Norwegians,  would  find  so  many  as  tall  as  himself  or 
taller,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  see  over  or 
between  their  heads.  In  crowds  of  average-sized  people 
in  other  continental  nations,  the  reverse  of  this  would 
be  the  case.  The  Lapps  are  of  extremely  low  stature. 
They  average  in  height  only  four  feet  and  a  half  ;  one 
five  feet  tall  would  be  regarded  as  a  prodigy  in  his  own 
land.  Though  owning  a  physical  combination  common 
to  both  the  Mongolian  and  Caucasian,  I  thought  their 
physiognomy  possessed  more  of  the  characteristics  of 
the  former  race.  Thus,  in  color  they  are  yellowish- 
brown,  and  they  have  large  heads,  with  broad  and  low 
foreheads,  oblique  black  eyes,  flat,  short  noses,  broad 
mouths,  high  cheek  bones,  scanty  beards,  and  long,  stiff 
black  hair.  Their  voices  are  not  euphonious,  being  low 
and  squeaking.  They  possess  great  muscular  power 
and  are  extremely  agile. 

Ethnologists  have  been  greatly  puzzled  as  to  the 
origin  of  this  strange  race.  Doubtless  they  entered 
Europe  before  the  historical  period.  Perhaps  they  were 
the  original  inhabitants  of  Finland  and  were  slowly 
crowded  north  and  west,  around  the  northern  extremity 


WITH  THE  LAPPS:    BY   THE  SEA.  1 27 

of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  by  the  Finns.     At  any  rate  they 
appear  to  belong  to    the    Finnic    group    of  the    great 
Turanian  family.     This  opinion  is  based  upon  a  con- 
sideration of   their  language,   physique,    features,    and 
dress.       The  nomad  character  of  the  Lapps  allies  them 
to    the    Samoyedes    and    Esquimaux.       In    fact    these 
three  peoples,  with  certain  less  known  tribes  in  Siberia, 
are  classed  together  by  some  ethnologists  as  the  Hyper- 
borean Race.     The  word  Samoyedes  signifies  "  swamp- 
dwellers,"  referring  to  the  fact  of  this  tribe  inhabiting 
the  vast  mossy  plains  of  Northern  Russia  and  Siberia. 
The  name  Esquimau  means  "  eater  of  raw  flesh,"  which 
appellation  might,  indeed,  be  bestowed  with  equal  pro- 
priety upon  all  these  circumpolar  people.      The  Esqui- 
mau is  the  most  widely  spread  nation  in   the  world, 
though  the  highest  expression  of  this  type,  as  my  readers 
doubtless  know,  is  found  in  Greenland.     Owing  to  the 
greater  mildness  of  the  climate  of  Lapland,  the  physical 
condition  of  her  inhabitants  is  superior  to  that  of  the 
Samoyedes  or  the  Esquimaux,  though  in  mental    and 
moral  capacity  perhaps  the  latter  are  the  best  endowed 
— at  least  they  are  the  most  adroit  and  teachable. 

There  seems  to  be  some  confusion  in  the  designa- 
tion of  the  different  peoples  of  Norway.  Thus,  those 
whom  we  call  Lapps  are  apt  to  be  called  Finns  by  the 
Norwegians,  and  those  whom  we  have  been  accustomed 
to  term  Finns  they  characterize  as  Quains.  The  truth 
is  that  those  who  are  styled  Finns  in  Norway  are  really 
true  Lapps.  The  Quains  are  properly  the  Finns  of  the 
northwest  of  Finland,  that  portion   bordering  on    the 


123  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

Gulf  of  Bothnia.  The  Lapps  have,  however,  sometimes 
so  nearly  lost  their  original  character  as  to  be  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  the  Norwegian  peasantry.  In  1865, 
there  were  4,000  people  in  Norway  of  mixed  Finnish, 
Lappish,  and  Norsk  blood.  The  descendants  of  such 
individuals,  strange  to  say,  are  regarded  as  true  Nor- 
wegians, which  not  only  shows  the  readiness  wherewith 
races  are  fused,  but  also  indicates  in  a  way,  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  Laplanders  are  becoming  extinguished. 
The  Lapp  race  is  said  to  number  at  the  present  day 
only  17,000  souls.  These  are  distributed  in  the  various 
sections  of  Lapland  as  follows  :  Norway  5,000  ;  Sweden 
4,000 ;  and  Russia  8,000.  They  are  divided  into  two 
grand  classes — the  roving  and  the  settled.  The  former 
are  called  Boelappen  or  Mountain  Lapps,  and  the  latter 
Soelappen  or  Sea-Coast  Lapps.  Those  are  herdsmen, 
and  support  themselves  chiefly  by  hunting ;  these  live 
generally  by  fishing,  rarely  by  tillage.  Originally  all 
the  Laplanders  were  nomadic,  but  the  difficulty  of  find- 
ing sufficient  food  within  the  limited  space  to  which  the 
increasing  civilization  of  the  neighboring  nations  had 
gradually  restricted  them,  has  compelled  many  of  the 
tribes  to  settle  near  the  larger  rivers  and  lakes,  and 
more  especially  along  the  sea-coast.  These  Lapps, 
indeed,  now  largely  outnumber  those  wandering  over 
the  hills  and  plains.  Villages  are  unknown  among  any 
of  these  people.  In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century 
it  might  have  been  the  custom  of  the  Lappians  to  "  con- 
tinue in  herds  and  companies  by  one  hundred  and  two 
hundred,"  as  stated  on  a  preceding  page,  but   nowadays 


WITH   THE  LAPPS:    BY   THE   SEA.  1 29 

an  encampment  contains  only  half  a  dozen  tents  or  huts. 
In  summer  the  lofty  parts  of  the  hills  on  the  west  coast 
of  Norway,  which  cannot  be  utilized  by  the  Norwegian 
farmers,  are  occupied  by  the  vagrant  Lapps.  These 
bring  their  reindeer  there  for  the  moss-pasturage,  and 
in  order  to  avoid  near  the  sea-shore,  the  attacks  of  in- 
sect pests,  notably  the  gad-fly.  Another  and  very  im- 
portant object  of  the  Laplanders  in  going  to  the  coast 
is,  that  they  may  dispose  of  the  commodities  they  have 
collected  during  the  winter,  such  as  the  skins  of  animals 
and  the  feathers  of  birds.  These  they  usually  barter 
for  brandy,  gunpowder,  cloth,  and  meal.  In  the  autumn 
they  return  with  their  herds  to  the  great  plains  of  the 
interior.  It  is  estimated  that  more  than  100,000  rein- 
deer annually  make  these  journeys  with  their  Lapland- 
ish  owners. 

There  are  always  many  Sea-  Lapps  to  be  seen  in 
Hammerfest.  They  go  there  from  the  surrounding  isl- 
ands to  sell  fish  and  reindeer  venison,  and  to  buy  the 
few  articles  of  foreign  manufacture  of  which  they  ap- 
preciate the  uses.  They  are  especially  fond  of  coffee 
and  sugar,  and  the  rye  flour  which  comes  from  Russia. 
Some  of  them  can  read  and  write,  having  been  instructed 
in  these  elementary  helps  to  knowledge  by  Norwegian 
schoolmasters.  Many  Lapps  are  baptized  when  young  ; 
and  their  weddings  take  place  in  the  Norwegian  churches. 
Nevertheless  owing  to  their  dirty  habits  and  the  national 
prejudice  against  them,  they  are  not  allowed  to  remain 
permanently  in  any  of  the  towns  while  living,  though, 
curiously  enough,  they  may  do  so  when  dead.     They 


130  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

are  buried  in  the  sanie  cemeteries  as  the  Norwegians, 
but  no  display  is  made  at  their  funerals. 

One  night  (though  it  was  as  light  as  day)  while 
roaming  over  the  wharves  of  Hammerfest  I  chanced  to 
come  upon  a  party  of  about  twenty  Sea-Lapps,  engaged 
in  bidding  farewell  to  some  friends  who  were  returning 
to  their  homes  on  a  distant  part  of  the  coast.  There 
were  several  old  women  almost  hideous  in  their  ugliness, 
some  smiling  but  homely  girls,  some  young  men  and 
several  children.  One  of  the  women  had  in  her  arms  a 
little  sickly-looking  baby,  which  was  exposed  to  the 
cold  and  rain  and  received  no  more  attention  from  its 
mother  than  if  it  had  been  a  bundle  of  reindeer  moss. 
The  whole  party  were  dressed  in  pretty  much  the  same 
style.  The  women  wore  long  tunics  made  of  fustian, 
ornamented  with  red  and  yellow  borders,  and  confined 
at  the  waist  by  a  belt.  Their  nether  garments  were  of 
leather,  as  were  their  pointed  shoes,  which  were  tied 
about  the  ankle  with  colored  straps.  They  wore  a  sort 
of  woolen  cap  fitting  tightly  to  the  head  and  projecting 
above  the  crown  somewhat  like  those  one  sees  in  Nor- 
mandy, France.  The  men  had  cloaks  of  reindeer-skin, 
the  fur  worn  within,  and  hoods  of  skin  and  wool.  In 
winter  they  wear  another  suit  over  this,  with  the  hair 
outwards.  The  boots  they  then  wear  are  made  of  the 
skin  of  the  reindeer's  head  (the  toughest  part  of  that 
animal),  with  the  hair  left  on.  The  Lapps  never  wear 
linen  or  cotton  undergarments.  They  are  very  fond  of 
colors,  which  they  employ  in  the  brightest  tints,  but  only 
a  little  is  displayed  at  a  time.     This  gives  them  an  odd 


WITH    THE  LAPPS:    BY    THE   SEA.  131 

but  withal  picturesque  appearance.  The  natives  who 
were  about  to  depart  had  come  to  Hammerfest  in  little 
open  boats ;  some  fish,  a  birch-box  of  clothing  and 
another  of  provisions  constituted  their  entire  luggage.- 
While  I  stood  gazing  at  these  diminutive  beings, 
who,  by  the  way,  took  not  the  slightest  notice  of  me, 
one  of  the  hags  produced  a  bottle  of  finkel,  a  vile  native 
brandy  distilled  from  corn,  which  has  been  felicitously- 
described  as  "  a  mixture  of  turpentine,  train  oil,  and 
bad  molasses."  This  was  rapidly  passed  from  mouth 
to  mouth,  not  excepting  the  women  and  young  girls, 
who  actually  rivalled  the  men  in  their  alcoholic  bibacity. 
The  liquor,  which  is  almost  strong  enough  to  cauterize 
the  stomach  of  a  European,  caused  some  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  party  to  wince  a  trifle,  but  in  a  moment 
they  smiled  again  and  were  as  merry  as  children  at  a 
picnic.  Indeed  some  of  the  men  held  their  wives' 
hands,  swinging  .them,  and  laughing  and  talking  in  turn 
with  each  person  in  the  group.  But  soon  the  scene 
changed,  fox  the  sad  moment  of  separation  came.  The 
women  embraced  and  the  men  shook  hands  after  our 
own  fashion.  The  children  clung  to  their  mothers. 
Some  of  the  girls  even  shed  tears.  The  poor  pale- 
faced  baby  in  its  little  skin  cradle  alone  was  impassive. 
It  was  an  intensely  interesting  scene  :  there,  at  midnight 
in  the  outpost  town  of  the  civilized  globe,  alone  with  a 
race  of  fellow-beings  whose  language,  habits,  faith  and 
thoughts  I  did  not  comprehend,  but  with  whom  I  could 
most  heartily  sympathize.  "  Verily,"  thought  I,  "  though 
we  do  not  in  a  sense  know  each  other,  yet  are  we  co- 


132  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

members  of  the  world's  great  family,  and  it  will  be  my 
own  fault  if  we  do  not  become  better  acquainted  ere  I 
leave  your  secluded  country."  The  little  boats  were 
pushed  off  from  the  wharf,  the  men  took  their  seats  at 
the  oars,  and  the  remainder  of  the  party,  without  an- 
other word,  turned  and  walked  slowly  back  into  the 
town. 

One  day  I  attended  a  Lapponian  wedding  in  the 
church  at  Hammerfest.  As  I  entered,  the  bride  and 
groom  were  standing  before  the  altar;  and  about  a 
score  of  relatives  and  friends,  the  men  on  one  side,  the 
women  on  the  other,  occupied  the  front  seats.  The 
pastor  in  a  black  robe  and  white  frilled  collar,  read  the 
service,  and  the  sexton  stood  at  the  side,  hymn-book  in 
hand,  ready  to  lead  the  singing.  The  bride  was  attired 
in  a  dark  blue  woolen  tunic,  with  orange  and  red  trim- 
mings; her  boots,  faste  lei  with  a  vari-colored  ribbon 
which  was  wound  around  them,  extended  half  way  to 
the  knee  ;  over  her  shoulders  she  had  thrown  a  small 
gay-colored  shawl.  Upon  her  head  she  wore  a  brilliant 
cap,  with  a  huge  bunch  of  narrow  ribbons  streaming 
behind.  The  bridegroom  was  dressed  in  a  similar  style, 
except  that  his  tunic  was  shorter,  and  that  he  had  upon 
his  head  a  simple  woolen  turban.  The  dress  of  the 
female  Lapps  closely  resembles  that  of  the  male.  The 
women  all  wear  pantaloons,  since  open  garments  would 
unnecessarily  expose  their  bodies  to  the  cold  during 
three-fourths  of  the  year.  Both  sexes  are,  as  I  have 
hinted,  remarkably  vain.  In  respect  to  dress  or  orn  .- 
ment,  whatever  is  gaudy  is  sure  to  be  admired  and  cov- 


WITH   THE  IAPPS:    BY    THE   SEA.  1 33 

eted.  A  white  frock  with  edgings  of  red  and  blue  is 
very  popular.  Oftentimes  their  holiday  garments  are 
gayly  and  handsomely  embroidered. 

The  wedding-service,  in  Norwegian,  is  read,  re- 
hearsed, and  sung  by  the  pastor,  with  responses  by  the 
sexton.  None  of  the  Lapps  seem  to  join  in  either  the 
responses  or  the  singing.  At  the  close  of  the  ceremony 
the  pastor  and  sexton  congratulate  the  enamored  pair 
and,  a  procession  being  formed,  the  company  march 
two  by  two,  out  of  the  church  and  down  the  street,  to 
one  of  the  large  tenements  provided  for  the  Lapps  by 
the  merchants  of  Hammerfest.  As  the  newly  married 
couple  pass  me  I  notice  that  the  bride  is  much  the 
older  and  uglier.  The  bridegroom  is  a  bright,  cheery 
looking  fellow,  but  a  mere  boy.  Great  heavens  !  could 
it  be  that  even  in  distant  Lapland  they  married  for 
money  ?  Upon  inquiry  afterwards  I  learned  to  my 
sorrow  that  such  was  indeed  the  fact.  In  this  respect 
they  are  often  worldly-minded,  like  their  brothers  and 
sisters  of  the  west.  However,  they  generally  marry 
"  for  love,"  or  rather  for  what  is  its  nearest  substitute 
in  their  comprehension.  Byron  tells  us,  and  he  cer- 
tainly ought  to  have  known,  that 

"  The  cold  in  clime  are  cold  in  blood, 
Their  love  can  scarce  deserve  the  name." 

The  Lapps  are  never  divorced.  A  girl  possessing 
property  or  money  to  the  value  of  $50  would  be  styled 
rich.  The  dowry  of  parents  to  their  daughters  when 
they  marry  consists  usually  of  reindeer,  as  many  head 


134  NORSA',  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

as  the  condition  of  their  finances  will  permit.  A  youth 
is  often  devoted  to  several  girls  at  the  same  time — so 
unlike  young  Americans  ! — and  he  expresses  his  esteem 
by  presents,  chiefly  of  rings  or  other  ornaments.  If  he 
marries  one  of  them,  all  the  others  return  him  their 
presents.  Could  not  this  custom  be  introduced  with 
advantage  here  ?  The  Laplanders  have  no  previous 
ceremony  upon  marriage  occasions.  After  the  church 
service,  if  there  should  be  one,  presents  are  interchanged 
and  copious  libations  of  brandy  swallowed.  The  gifts 
consist  of  rings,  spoons,  silver  cups,  silk  neckerchiefs, 
and  sometimes,  if  the  parties  are  very  rich,  silver  girdles. 
The  men  marry  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  the  women  at 
fifteen.  Polygamy  is  in  vogue,  and  marriageable  girls 
are  often  sold  by  their  parents.  The  daughter  of  a  rich 
man  costs  a  hundred  reindeer  ;  that  of  a  poor  man 
about  twenty.  This  price  they  consider  as  a  repayment 
of  the  expenses  incurred  in  bringing  up  a  daughter,  and 
also  as  a  remuneration  to  the  father  for  losing  her  ser- 
vices. 

I  joined  the  procession,  and  entering  the  house,  was 
received  with  much  respect  and  invited  to  join  the 
nuptial  party  in  their  simple  meal  of  boiled  sheep.  This 
I  declined,  but  I  could  not  do  less  than  drink  their 
health  and  happiness  in  a  glass  of  nitro-glyc  —  no,  I 
mean  finkel  ;  and  afterward,  I  had  the  special  pleasure 
of  making  the  bride  a  present  of  a  bright  silver  kroner 
fresh  from  the  mint.  She  blushed  crimson,  while  her 
husband  endeavored  to  look  as  unconcerned  as  possible. 
The  room  into  which  I  had  been  ushered  was  simple 


WITH    THE  LAPPS:    BY   THE   SEA.  1 35 

enough.  It  contained  a  couple  of  small  tables,  a  few 
benches,  and  a  pile  of  skins  upon  which  several  children 
were  soundly  sleeping.  The  Lapps  when  full-grown 
measure  scarcely  more  than  four  feet  in  height,  and 
their  children  being  correspondingly  diminutive  are  at 
all  times  interesting  as  curiosities.  The  company  took 
with  their  hands  great  hunks  of  meat  from  a  common 
dish,  and  having  cut  these  into  comparatively  small 
pieces  with  the  large  knives  they  usually  wear  about 
their  waists,  they  swallowed  them  at  a  gulp.  The  hus- 
band and  wife  were  sitting  side  by  side  upon  a  box 
scarcely  wide  enough  for  one  of  them,  and  eating  as 
voraciously  and  unconcernedly  as  if  th%  happiest  event 
of  their  lives  served  only  to  whet  their  appetites. 
Friends  poured  in,  and  the  bottle  of  finkel  poured  out 
so  rapidly,  and  I  was  persuaded  by  so  many  smiling 
men  and  chatty  women  to  drink,  that  I  thought  best  to 
beat  a  retreat,  knowing  they  would  all  soon  be  drunk, 
and  then  nothing  more  of  interest  to  me — or  any  one 
else  for  that  matter — would  be  done.  Dancing  is  un- 
known among  the  Laplanders,  their  only  amusements 
seem  to  consist  in  drinking,  eating,  and  hunting. 

Passing  one  noon  along  the  wharves,  just  as  the 
fishermen  were  taking  dinner,  I  was  invited  to  join  a 
grinning  good-natured  party  in  their  boat.  They  had 
but  two  articles  of  diet — dried  codfish  and  a  chunk  of 
seal-blubber  about  two  feet  square  and  three  inches  in 
thickness.  These  had  been  placed  upon  a  wooden  box, 
and  the  men  were  tearing  and  rending  the  codfish  like 
lions  feasting  upon  a  buffalo,  and  ever  and  anon  hacking 


I36  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

off  a  tidbit  of  blubber  which,  having  swallowed,  they 
would  roll  up  their  little  blue  eyes  and  grin  from  ear  to 
ear  at  me,  as  much  as  to  say  "  don't  we  live  well." 
The  Lapps  never  cook  either  fish  or  blubber,  but  eat 
their  "  flesh  all  raw,"  an  odd  fact  of  which  the  sixteenth 
century  traveller  made  special  mention.  My  hosts 
washed  down  their  piscatory  provender  with  copious 
draughts  from  a  large  bottle  of  the  stomach-stunning 
finkel.  The  codfish  I  found  very  dry  and  stringy,  but 
not  unpalatable.  The  seal-fat,  however,  I  cannot  say 
that  I  relished.  It  tastes  exactly  as  whale  oil  smells. 
In  fact,  the  seal  oil  of  commerce  is  manufactured  from 
this  blubber.  My  portion  was  cut  from  the  large  Spitz- 
bergen  seal,  but  there  is  a  small  seal  caught  near  Ham- 
merfest,  the  flesh  of  which  even  Europeans  do  not 
despise,  as  its  flavor  much  resembles  veal.  These 
Ichthyophagi  generally  support  themselves  by  the  cod- 
fishery,  though  occasionally  they  succeed  in  capturing  a 
whale.  This  they  do  in  a  most  singular  manner.  A 
harpoon  being  darted  into  the  monster's  body,  is  then 
broken  close  off.  No  more  notice  is  taken  of  it  at  the 
time,  but  the  wound  usually  proves  mortal  and  in  a  few 
days  the  huge  animal  is  probably  found  cast  upon  some 
part  of  the  neighboring  shore.  The  owner  is  known  by 
a  mark  on  the  barb  of  the  harpoon,  and  by  this  his 
property  is  identified.  The  law,  however,  entitles  the 
finder  to  one-third  of  the  booty. 

Near  this  Lappish  boat  were  many  Russian  trading- 
ships,  which  come  to  Hammerfest  from  Archangel,  with 
very  favorable  winds,  in  four  days.     In  rough  weather 


WITH    THE  LAPPS:    BY   THE   SEA.  1 37 

and  with  contrary  winds,  however,  they  are  sometimes 
a  month  on  the  way;  though  they  generally  manage  to 
insure  themselves  pleasant  weather  and  quick  passages 
by  making  their  voyages  in  the  summer.     Their  trade 
is  very  important  for  the  poor  Norwegians  and  the  Lap- 
landers  dwelling   on   the   northern    and   northwestern 
coasts  of  Norway.     The  peasant  classes   of   northern 
Russia  are  but  little  above  the  Lapps    in  intelligence 
and  mode  of  life,  and  are  even  grosser  feeders.      Thus, 
they  eat  a  species  of  coarse  fish  which  no  Lapp  will 
touch  and  with  which  the   latter  supply  them  in  ex- 
change for  rye  flour.     Putrid  fish,   bread  once  white 
but  turned  black  through  acidity,  and  the  worst  kinds 
of  brandy,  form  the  staple  diet  of  the  Russian  sailors, 
and  on  this  they  become  unusually  robust  and  strong. 
In   Hammerfest  drunken   Lapps    and    Russian   sailors 
reel  through  the  streets  together,  but  excite  no  com- 
ment or  even  attention.     It  seems  to  be  expected  that 
they  should  be  in  this  condition  about  half  the  time. 
Indeed,  the  besetting  sin  of  these  races,  as  of  the   Ice- 
landers, is  drunkenness.     Another  infatuation    of  the 
Lapps,  both  male  and  female,  is  smoking.     They  always 
carry  a  tobacco-pouch  of  reindeer-skin,  and  attached  to 
it  a  pipe-cleaner  made  of  a  bird's  bill. 

The  powers  of  endurance  of  the  Lapps  are  quite  re- 
markable. They  are  naturally  very  sinewy  and  strong 
and  their  exposed  and  intemperate  life  does  not  seem 
to  diminish  their  vigor,  at  least  for  a  time  ;  though  they 
are  apt  to  become  prematurely  old,  still  they  manage  to 
linger  on  to  very  advanced  ages.     If   overtaken  by  a 


I38  NORSA',  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

snow  storm  on  the  mountains,  they  simply  allow  them- 
selves to  be  snowed  in,  and  when  the  storm  is  over,  die 
themselves  out  and  proceed  on  their  journey.  A  Lapp 
will  get  drunk,  fall  asleep  in  a  snowdrift  or  a  ditch  and 
awake  in  the  morning  as  if  in  the  warm  room  of  a  town 
house.  In  this  wonderful  display  of  vigor  and  vitality 
they  are  excelled  by  no  people  within  the  limit  of  my 
observation,  save  the  Russian  peasants.  Often  in  the 
middle  of  winter  a  Lapp  woman,  during  the  wandering 
of  her  people  in  search  of  moss  for  the  reindeer,  will 
give  birth  to  a  child,  and  after  a  brief  repose  will  con- 
tinue the  journey  without  any  evil  consequences. 

Nature  has  not  given  the  Laplander  much  of  an 
outfit.  Good-looking  ones  are  like  meteors  ;  they  only 
shine  forth  at  rare  intervals.  Still  some  of  the  younger 
Lapps,  in  spite  of  their  stunted  figures,  squinting  eyes, 
flat  noses,  and  enormous  mouths,  present  a  compara- 
tively handsome  appearance.  But  even  this  question- 
able beauty  disappears  as  they  grow  older.  I  frequently 
met  Lapps  in  the  streets  of  Hammerfest,  man  and  wife 
holding  each  other's  hands,  or  the  wife  and  children 
clinging  to  the  girdle  of  the  husband.  This  custom  I 
at  first  attributed  to  affection  but  afterwards  concluded 
it  was  indulged  in  solely  with  a  view  to  greater  comfort 
in  locomotion.  All  have  an  ungainly  walk,  though 
they  are  generally  upright.  They  are  besides  nearly 
all  of  them  more  or  less  bow-legged,  being  allowed  to 
walk  too  early  in  life.  Other  causes,  however,  which 
tend  to  produce  this  physical  defect,  are  riding  in  the 
narrow  pulkhas  or  winter  sledges,  the  lowness  of  their 


WITH    THE  LAPPS:    BY   THE    SEA.  1 39 

huts  and  tents,  and  their  huge  shoes  which  have  no 
heels.  The  old  women  are  especially  ugly,  and  old 
people  of  this  race  meet  with  little  if  any  sympathy 
from  the  young  folks.  Thus  when  the  aged  members 
of  a  travelling  family  or  tribe  fall  sick  upon  the  journey, 
they  are  provided  with  some  victuals  and  left  lying  on 
the  roadside,  thus  to  fall  a  helpless  prey  to  the  prowl- 
ing beasts  of  the  vicinity. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
With  the  Lapps  :  On  the  Mountain. 

Maupertuis,  the  French  mathematician  and  as- 
tronomer whom  Louis  XV.  sent  to  Lapland,  in  1736,  in 
order  to  determine  whether  the  earth  was  pointed  or 
oblate  at  the  poles,  by  obtaining  the  exact  measurement 
of  a  degree  of  longitude — a  problem  of  great  interest  in 
those  days — tells  us  in  his  work  De  la  Figure  de  la  Terre, 
that  this  remote  country  "  everywhere  presents  subjects 
of  reflection  and  contemplation  :  no  arts  flourish  here ; 
we  nowhere  meet  with  temples,  houses,  wrecks  of 
columns,  or  of  other  monuments,  but  a  fine  opportunity 
is  afforded  of  studying  among  the  wandering  tribes  the 
first  elements  of  social  life  ;  of  society  in  its  most  ancient 
form."  It  was  with  such  an  object  in  view  that  while 
my  steamer  remained  at  Tromsoe  on  its  upward  passage, 
I  eagerly  embraced  the  chance  offered  of  visiting  some 
of  the  vagrant  Laplanders — true  gypsies  of  the  North — 
who  were  at  that  time  living  in  a  neighboring  valley. 

Having  procured  a  guide  who  spoke  Lappish,  we 
rowed  across  the  fiord  to  the  mainland  and  then  walked 
up  a  dreary  dale  to  the  encampment.  We  first  came 
upon  two  large  circular  stockades  intended  as  a  corral 
or  pen  for  the  reindeer,  which  at  the  time  of  our  visit 


WITH  THE  LAPPS:  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.     I4I 

were  all  away  in  the  mountain  pasture.  We  uncere- 
moniously opened  the  door  of  the  nearest  hut  and  awoke 
the  sleepers  within,  for  it  was  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  This  very  early  call  was  necessary,  for  the 
steamer  was  to  leave  at  six,  and  as  it  was  continually 
light  throughout  the  twenty-four  hours  I  invariably  went 
on  shore  whenever  there  was  anything  of  interest  to  be 
seen,  no  matter  what  time  of  the  night  or  morning  it 
might  be.  A  very  inharmonious  chorus  of  dogs  replied 
to  our  greeting,  but  the  Lapps  having  succeeded  after 
some  delay  in  repressing  them,  we  crawled — through  a 
door  hung  at  such  a  slant  that  it  closed  of  itself — into  a 
beehive-shaped  hut,  perhaps  fifteen  feet  in  diameter, 
and  eight  feet  in  height,  built  of  birch  timbers  which 
were  covered  first  with  bark  and  then  with  turf  and 
srones.  The  whole  interior  was  begrimed  with  smoke 
whose  only  means  of  exit  was  a  small  square  opening  in 
the  centre  of  the  roof,  through  which  we  looked  up  to 
the  sky.  A  large  heap  of  skins  was  piled  up  on  each 
side,  and  nestling  comfortably  in  the  midst  of  them  were 
six  or  eight  dogs.  In  the  centre  were  the  embers  of  a 
fire,  and  above  them  a  kettle  was  suspended  from  the 
roof  by  a  chain.  On  a  shelf  on  one  side  were  some 
skins  of  cheese,  a  few  fish,  and  a  bowl  of  cream.  The 
food  of  these  Mountain  Lapps  generally  consists  of  the 
soup  and  venison  of  the  reindeer  and  the  milk  and 
cheese  of  the  same  useful  animal,  but  they  will  also  eat 
fish  and  rye  flour  when  they  can  obtain  them.  On 
another  side  were  several  birch  boxes  containing  clothes 
and  books.    At  first,  it  seemed  as  if  this  was  all  that  the 


142  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

hut  contained,  but  presently  we  saw  a  head  peep  from 
out  one  of  the  piles  of  skins,  then  another  and  another, 
and  then  others  on  the  opposite  side.  It  proved  event- 
ually to  be  a  family  of  six — a  mother,  three  girls,  a  boy, 
and  a  baby.  The  father,  I  understood,  was  absent  in 
Tromsoe.  Their  birch-leaf  beds  were  covered  with 
seal-skins,  their  pillows  were  covered  with  sheep-skins, 
and  they  themselves  were  covered  with  reindeer-skins. 

The  old  woman  arose,  put  on  her  leather  boots,  fill- 
ing them  with  hay,  and  then  stood  quite  dressed  before 
us.  She  wore  a  warm  woolen  undergarment,  leather 
trousers,  and  a  long  leather  tunic  from  which  the  hair 
was  partially  rubbed.  On  her  head  was  a  scarlet  pear- 
shaped  cloth  cap.  The  woman  could  not  be  called 
handsome  but  had  a  good-natured  smile.  For  a  wonder 
she  was  not  very  inquisitive,  desiring  only  to  know  my 
nationality  and  anxious  to  sell  me  something.  I  asked 
what  there  was  to  be  sold  and  was  shown  several  pairs 
of  winter  boots,  lined  with  fur,  trimmed  with  yellow 
cloth,  and  turned  up  at  the  toes.  Some  spoons  rudely 
carved  from  reindeer  horn,  and  several  skins  of  the 
same  animal,  were  also  offered  me  and  at  prices  that 
seemed  reasonable.  The  children  during  my  interview 
gazed  at  me  with  curious  twinkling  eyes,  but  the  little 
baby,  securely  lashed  in  its  leathern  cradle,  which  was 
lined  with  warm  felt,  slept  as  soundly  as  any  fond  mother 
might  desire.  The  cradle  was  suspended  from  a  hook 
in  the  roof  to  keep  the  child  from  harm.  The  dogs 
appeared  to  share  the  beds  with  their  owners.  They 
were  mostly  ugly  curs  with  sharp  fox-like  snouts,  though 


WITH  THE  LAPPS:  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.   I43 

two  or  three  seemed  a  little  better  favored.  When  on 
the  march  the  Lapps  live  in  tents  ;  at  other  times  they 
seem  to  prefer  these  turf-covered  huts.  Another  of 
them  which  I  visited,  was  only  ten  feet  in  diameter  and 
five  feet  in  height,  but  in  this  straitened  compass  there 
were  living  two  families,  numbering,  all  told,  eleven 
persons.  I  could  only  look  in  ;  there  really  was  not 
sufficient  room  for  the  insertion  of  my  body.  No 
amount  of  wages  will  tempt  the  men  to  work.  They 
pass  the  day  in  lolling  around,  smoking,  and  chatting. 
The  women  and  boys,  however,  make  moccasins,  horn 
spoons,  and  prepare  skins,  upon  the  occasional  sale  of 
which  they  manage  to  supply  their  few  and  simple 
wants.  One  of  the  women  showed  me  a  Testament 
and  a  history  of  the  Bible  prophets  in  Lappish,  but 
neither  of  these  books  seemed  the  worse  for  wear.  A 
number  of  religious  publications  in  the  same  uncouth 
tongue  have  lately  been  issued  by  the  Norwegian  gov- 
ernment, but  the  Laplanders  will  probably  never  be- 
come bewitched  bibliophiles. 

I  visited  another  encampment  of  the  errant  Lapps 
upon  the  sub-hills  of  the  great  mountain  chain  of  Nord- 
land,  about  fifty  miles  southeast  of  Bodo.  The  greater 
part  of  this  distance  was  traversed  in  a  small  steamer, 
and  the  remainder  on  horseback  and  on  foot.  Having 
arrived  in  the  designated  locality,  I  took  a  Norwegian, 
speaking  only  passable  English,  as  guide  and  interpreter, 
and  set  out  at  once  to  explore  the  adjacent  mountains, 
for  no  one  could  tell  me  the  whereabouts  of  the  Lapps. 
All  that  we  knew  was  that  the  smoke  of  their  encamp- 


144  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

ment  had  been  seen  a  few  days  previously.  I  took 
pains  to  provide  myself  with  a  pair  of  native  boots 
which,  made  of  reindeer  skin,  were  nearly  water-tight. 
They  are  easy  for  the  feet,  being  stuffed  with  hay  or 
leaves,  and  are  admirably  adapted  for  travelling  upon 
the  level,  or  up  hill,  but  on  descending  grades,  since 
they  have  no  heels,  one  is  apt  to  slip.  Having  first 
mounted  a  hill  perhaps  1,500  feet  in  height  and  then 
roamed  a  long  distance  over  wild  fells  and  moors,  half 
the  time  up  to  my  knees  in  water,  I  gradually  climb  to 
the  snow  mountains,  leaving  behind  the  birch  trees  and 
reaching  the  zone  of  the  white  moss  upon  which  the  rein- 
deer feed.  Suddenly  I  fancy  I  see  these  animals  upon 
the  side  of  a  far-distant  range  of  mountains.  The  guide 
confirms  my  impressions,  and  we  keep  on  until  we  at 
last  recognize  distinctly  a  great  herd  of  deer  huddled 
together  in  a  narrow  valley.  There  must  have  been 
over  a  thousand  of  them,  lying  down  in  order  to  keep 
more  out  of  the  piercing  wind.  They  presented  a 
beautiful  sight,  with  their  dun-gray  bodies,  enlivened 
by  an  occasional  white  one,  and  above,  a  perfect  forest 
of  dark  antlers.  Near  them  we  soon  discovered  some 
Laplandish  tents,  on  approaching  which  we  were  greeted 
by  a  pack  of  about  twenty  dogs,  who  barked  and  snarled 
around  us,  but  did  not  commit  any  overt  act  in  disap- 
proval of  our  presence. 

I  entered  a  tent  made  of  reindeer  skins  spread  upon 
birch  boughs.  It  could  not  have  been  more  than  six 
feet  in  diameter  and  four  in  height,  but  within  it  were 
nine  Lapps  at  dinner.     Their  ages  and  sexes,  as  ordi- 


WITH  THE  LAPPS:  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.   I45 

narily  among  those  pigmies,  one  could  not  possibly 
guess.  Some  were  sitting  upon  their  heels  after  the 
manner  of  Oriental  nations,  others  were  squatting  like 
toads,  so  flexible  are  their  legs.  They  were  very 
friendly,  offering  me  some  reindeer's  milk,  and  also 
begging  me  to  drink  some  of  their  liquor,  which  was 
passed  around  in  a  little  silver  ladle.  Seeing  however 
the  wry  faces  they  made  I  was  in  no  humor  to  accept 
the  latter  courtesy.  During  the  meal  the  dogs  were 
invited  to  partake  of  some  milk  and  water  from  the 
same  vessel  the  Lapps  were  using. 

Though  their  tent  seemed  so  small,  I  may  just  men- 
tion that  still  smaller  ones  are  employed  in  Iceland. 
There  you  will  find  them  only  three  feet  high,  five  long, 
and  three  broad  !  The  interior  of  the  Lapponian  porta- 
ble pavilion  presented  a  most  curious  sight.  Its  con- 
tents were  marvelously  miscellaneous.  Besides  the  nine 
human  occupants  there  were  crowded  into  it  a  dozen 
dogs,  an  indiscriminate  pile  of  skins,  boxes,  kettles  and 
provisions,  and  in  the  midst  of  all  was  a  fire,  with  a 
small  copper  pot  containing  hot  water.  Several  large 
chunks  of  reindeer  meat  were  secured  to  the  rafters  and 
upon  a  light  frame  of  birch  were  about  a  dozen  rein- 
deer cheeses.  The  Lilliputians  were  representatives  of 
several  families  and  were  all  men — at  least  so  they  told 
me — save  one,  a  woman  who  was  their  polyandrous 
wife.  .  All  were  dressed  in  fur  caps,  woolen  blouses, 
leather  trousers  and  boots.  The  woman  in  addition 
wore  silver  ear-rings  and  several  huge  finger-rings.  She 
seemed  a  jolly  good-natured  person  and  upon  my  pre- 


146 


NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 


senting  her  with  some  gay-colored  ribbons,  was  so  over- 
come with  joy  as  to  press  my  hand  several  times  and  to 
slip  from  off  one  of  her  fingers  a  silver  ring  which  she 
with  many  kindly  grimaces  presented  to  me.  I  willingly 
accepted  it  as  a  souvenir.  Some  tobacco  which  I  gave 
the  men  so  delighted  them,  they  said  they  would  teach 
me  Lappish.  I  was  most  happy  to  learn  a  little  of  it 
and  received  the  following  brief  glossary,  together  with 
much  laughter  and  many  jokes  at  the  expense  of  my 
clumsy  pronunciation  of  their  jangling  jargon.  The 
spelling  is  of  course  but  an  approximation  to  accuracy. 
And  I  recognize  throughout  an  intermixture  of  Norsk 
roots. 


Father — Arahic. 

Hot— Badka. 

Mother — Acinic. 

Cold — Choskish 

Daughter — Nita. 

Brand)' — Vidna. 

Boy — Svvinno. 

I.— Akta. 

Good — Barmkit. 

2. — Koekte. 

Bad — Shuka. 

3. — Kolm. 

Day — Bavia. 

4. — Nelye. 

Night— Edja. 

5.— Vita. 

Fish — Quelli. 

6. — Kota. 

Reindeer — Botsue. 

7. — Kyetya. 

Dog — Birna. 

8.— Kaktse. 

Knife — Nipi. 

9. — Aktse. 

Fire — Tollo. 

10. — Lokke. 

Good-Day  —  Borris. 

Good-Bye — Goi 

-nat. 

Come  in — Kap- 

-mok. 

How  do  you  do 

? — Magto- 

-veso  ? 

Show  me  the  w; 

iy — Gunel- 

-vega-deggo. 

WITH  THE  LAPPS:  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN   l\J 

The  fierce  finkel  which  my  new-found  friends  were 
continually  imbibing  from  the  little  silver  ladle  (often 
replenished  from  sundry  bottles),  was  beginning  to  make 
them  a  trifle  too  convivial,  and  so  I  thought  it  best  to 
take  my  leave.  But  I  could  not  do  so  until  the  hilarious 
hostess,  with  the  ribbons  about  her  neck,  meeting  me  at 
the  tent  door,  had  again  murmured  her  grateful  gibberish 
and  pressed  my  hands  with  some  intensity.  Alas !  we 
may  never  meet  again. 

The  language  of  the  Laplanders  is  a  Finnish  dialect, 
with  a  great  infusion  of  foreign  and  obsolete  words.  It 
has  been  said  that  these  people  were  first  termed  Lapps 
on  account  of  their  small  words  and  brief  speech,  though 
that  is  not  the  signification  of  the  name  Lapp  itself. 
Their  tongue  is  very  peculiar  in  having  eleven  cases 
and  three  numbers  but  no  gender.  The  general  appear- 
ance of  the  men  so  strongly  resembles  that  of  the  women 
that  a  difference  of  termination  expressive  of  distinction 
of  sex  is  not  deemed  necessary.  It  is  said  there  are  five 
words  for  snow  and  seven  for  a  mountain,  but  that 
honesty,  virtue,  and  conscience  must  be  expressed  by  a 
paraphrase.  Still,  even  if  there  were  a  nomenclature  of 
all  the  good  qualities  inherent  in  human  nature,  it  is 
extremely  doubtful  whether  they  themselves  would  ever 
possess  or  employ  more  than  the  mere  names  of  such 
attributes. 

The  Lapps  as  a  race  are  most  lamentably  ignorant. 
They  possess  no  manuscripts  and  of  course  no  printed 
books  of  their  own.  They  are  familiar,  however,  with 
many  traditional  histories  and  songs  of  ancient  heroes, 


I4S  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

which  are  mingled  with  the  most  fabulous  accounts.  I 
could  obtain,  in  English,  only  a  single  song  as  a  sample 
of  their  belles-lettres.  The  wolf,  which  forms  its  subject, 
was  once  very  plentiful  in  Lapland,  but  has  experienced 
so  steady  and  unaccountable  a  decrease  during  this 
century  as  now  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  rare  of 
European  Polar  beasts  of  prey.  This  specimen  of  ver- 
sification is  as  follows  : 

"Accursed  wolf!  far  hence  away  ! 
Make  in  these  woods  no  longer  stay : 
Flee  hence  !  and  seek  earth's  utmost  bounds, 
Or  perish  by  the  hunter's  wounds  !" 

The  Lappish  mythology  is  simply  a  sort  of  universal 
idolatry  in  which  the  elements  are  typified — a  polytheism 
by  which  every  object  in  nature  is  changed  into  a  god. 
The  Lapps  are,  I  believe,  the  only  race  in  Europe  now 
attached  to  heathenish  beliefs.  They  worship  several 
Teutonic  gods,  and  there  also  seem  to  be  among  them 
remains  of  Druidical  institutions.  In  not  very  ancient 
times  their  rude  wooden  or  stone  idols  stood  within 
inclosures  of  boughs  where  they  were  honored  with  a 
variety  of  simple  rites.  At  the  present  day  they  worship 
five  orders  of  divinities  :  super-celestial,  celestial,  atmos- 
pheric, manes,  and  demons.  Radien  Athzie,  the  highest 
god  is  believed  to  have  created  everything  ;  he  was 
assisted  by  Ruona  Neid,  the  fruitful  virgin  ;  and  his 
son  Radien  Kiedde  kept  the  world  in  order.  Another 
god  is  Storyunkare,  the  lord  of  beasts,  of  the  chase,  and 
of  fishing.  Tiermes  brings  sometimes  weal  and  some- 
times woe  ;  he  carries  the  hammer ;  his  bow  is  the  rain- 


WITH  THE  LAPPS:  OH  THE  MO  UN  TA IX.   1 49 

bow,  and  in  his  wrath  he  slays  men  and  beasts  with 
lightning.  His  symbol  is  a  rude  block  of  wood,  which 
no  female  dare  approach. 

None  of  the  Lapponian  tribes  have  made  any  note- 
worthy progress  in  civilization  during  the  centuries  they 
have  been   known    to    the   world.       The    descriptions 
which  the  Greek  geographers,  Ptolemy  and  Strabo,  give 
of  the  Phinnoi,  and  those  which  the  Roman  historian 
Tacitus  presents  of  the  Fenni,  exactly  correspond  to  the 
nomadic   Laplanders   of  the  present  day.      Doubtless 
their  many  credulities  formed  a  serious  obstacle  to  evo- 
lution.   The  men  of  the  North,  like  the  men  of  Athens, 
were  "  in  all  things  too  superstitious."     The  very  name 
of  Lapp  signifies  a  wizard.     Their  witchcraft  had  even 
passed  into  a  proverb  long  before  the  time  of  Milton, 
who    somewhere    alludes    to    "  dancing   with    Lapland 
witches."    They  had  many  signs  which  portended  good 
or  evil.    The  stars,  clouds,  moon,  the  flight  and  appear- 
ance of  birds  in  certain  numbers  in  the  heavens,  were 
all  regarded  as  omens.    They  believed  they  could  fore- 
tell the  future,  cure  diseases,  and  exorcise  evil  spirits. 
Their  magicians  prophesied  by  means  of  a  drum,  on 
which  they  painted  the  images  of  the  gods  and  of  things 
about  which  inquiry  was  made;  having  slept  with  this 
under  his  head,  the  magician  on  awaking  told  what  he 
had  seen  in  his  dreams. 

But  the  schoolmaster,  armed  with  his  primer,  has 
been  abroad  in  Lapland.  There  too  the  missionary  has 
been  energetically  plying  his  vicarious  labors.  Many 
Lapps    have   joined   the    Lutheran   church,    though    it 


150  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

hardly  seems  possible  that  these  intellectual  and  moral, 
as  well  as  physical,  dwarfs  should  have  the  ability  to 
comprehend  the  Christian  scheme  of  salvation.  Even 
when  converted  from  paganism  to  Christianity,  they 
are  apt  to  retain  all  that  is  repulsive  in  their  habits 
of  life.  At  any  rate,  with  the  transmutation  departs  all 
that  is  picturesque  and  peculiar  to  them  as  a  race.  I 
acquiesce  in  the  opinion  of  Taylor,  that  it  is  in  vain  for 
the  romantic  traveller  to  seek  in  them  the  materials  for 
weird  stories  and  wild  adventures.  They  have  become 
inordinately  pious  and  commonplace.  "  Their  conver- 
sion has  destroyed  what  little  of  barbaric  poetry  there 
might  have  been  in  their  composition,  and,  instead  of 
chanting  to  the  spirits  of  the  winds,  and  clouds,  and 
mountains,  they  have  become  furious  ranters,  who  fre- 
quently claim  to  be  possessed  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  As 
human  beings,  the  change,  incomplete  as  it  is,  is  never- 
theless to  their  endless  profit  ;  but  as  objects  of  inter- 
est to  the  traveler,  it  has  been  to  their  detriment.  It 
would  be  far  more  picturesque  to  describe  a  sabaoth  of 
Lapland  witches  than  a  prayer-meeting  of  shouting  con- 
verts, yet  no  friend  of  his  race  could  help  rejoicing  to 
see  the  latter  substituted  for  the  former.  In  proportion 
therefore,  as  the  Lapps  have  become  enlightened  (like 
all  other  savage  tribes),  they  have  become  less  interest- 
ing. 

In  forming  a  general  estimate  of  Lapponian  charac- 
ter, a  distinction  between  the  dwellers  in  the  highlands 
and  those  living  upon  or  near  the  coasts,  must  be 
made.     In  the  mountains  they  are  haughty,  suspicious 


WITH  THE  LAPPS:  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.  1 5  I 

and  morose  ;  while  the  Sea-Lapps  are  peaceable,  hos- 
pitable, and  light-hearted.  The  former  are  savage,  the 
latter  domestic.  But  all  are  evidently  disadvantage- 
ously  affected  by  the  torpor  induced  by  the  winter 
climate  and  their  exposed  mode  of  life.  They  have 
no  marked  passions,  save  that  for  strong  drink.  This 
is,  indeed,  their  most  noticeable  characteristic.  Anger, 
theft,  and  bloodthirstiness,  are  all  but  unknown  among 
them.  Even  love  is  an  almost  meaningless  word  in 
their  language.  They  are  avaricious,  but,  as  a  rule, 
only  that  they  may  obtain  money  wherewith  to  supply 
themselves  with  their  favorite  finkel.  The  manners 
and  habits  of  the  gypsy  Lapps  have  been  finely  de- 
scribed by  the  poet  Thomson,  who,  in  comparing  them 
with  the  martial  hordes  of  the  north,  says  : 

"  Not  such  the  sons  of  Lapland  :  wisely  they 
Despise  th'  insensate  barbarous  trade  of  war : 
They  ask  no  more  than  simple  nature  gives  ; 
They  love  their  mountains,  and  enjoy  their  storms. 
No  false  desires,  no  pride-created  wants 
Disturb  the  peaceful  current  of  their  time  ; 
And  through  the  restless  ever-tortured  maze 
Of  pleasure  or  ambition  bid  it  rage. 
Their  reindeer  form  their  riches.     These  their  tents, 
Their  robes,  their  beds,  and  all  their  homely  wealth 
Supply  :  their  wholesome  fare  and  cheerful  cups." 

The  race  of  Lapps  is  dying  out.  Contact  with  the 
worst  products  of  civilization  is  effecting  as  alarming  a 
decimation  among  them  as  it  has  already  made  among 
the  islanders  of  the  South  Seas.     The  Maoris,  or  primi- 


152  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

tive  inhabitants   of  New   Zealand,  have  decreased  in 
seventeen   years  about    20  per  cent.      The  natives  of 
Hawaii  are  disappearing  still  more  rapidly,  as  I  have 
shown  in  a  previous  volume  ("  Through  and  Through 
the   Tropics,"  p.  92).     The  census  of  1878  registered 
13,000  less  than  that  of  1866.     The   reasons  given  for 
the  decay  of  these  two  nations  are   love  of  drink,  bad 
food  and  clothing,  neglect  of  cleanliness,  and  unwhole- 
some dwellings.     In  1858,  but  twenty-three  years  ago, 
the   population  of  Lapland  was  estimated  at  30,000  ; 
while  now  it  is  given  by  an  officer  of  the  Norwegian 
government  as  only  17,000!    The  causes  of  the  dwind- 
ling of  the  Laplanders   may  be  briefly  stated   as,  first, 
the  practice  of  polyandry  ;  second,  the  excessive  use  of 
alcoholic  spirits  ;  third,  the  failure  and  difficulty  of  ob- 
taining sufficient  reindeer-moss  during  winter,  and  con- 
sequent loss  of  their  herds    which  supply  them  with 
food,  clothing,  etc.;  and  fourth,  the  being  supplanted 
everywhere  by  the  Quains,  who  are  more  hard-working 
and  intelligent. 

The  usual  fate  of  nomads,  who  are  too  feeble  to  op- 
pose successfully  the  sweeping  tide  of  civilization,  will 
be  that  of  the  Lapps.  They  are  inevitably  doomed  to 
early  extinction.  Without  religion,  without  science  or 
art,  without  a  single  high  or  noble  attribute,  living 
merely  for  the  day,  and  not  looking  beyond  it,  they  can- 
not long  continue  to  block  the  way  for  more  able 
workers  in  this  "  earthly  bee-hive."  From  the  south 
and  east  the  line  of  civilization  is  gradually  but  surely 
progressing,  and  farther  north  or  west  they   cannot  go 


WITH  THE  LAPPS:  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.   I  53 

without  emptying  into  the  Polar  Sea.  Silently  and 
swiftly  they  must  disappear  and  vanish  forever  from 
among  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  leaving  no  mark  behind 
them  to  show  that  they  have  been. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
The  Reindeer. 

Before  leaving  Hammerfest  on  my  return  from 
North  Cape,  I  had  requested,  through  a  friend  in 
Tromsoe,  that  the  Lapps  whom  I  had  already  visited 
on  my  northern  journey  should  have  a  large  herd  of 
reindeer  driven  down  from  the  neighboring  mountains 
and  gathered  together  in  the  valley  for  my  inspection. 
Our  steamer's  anchor  was  therefore  scarcely  cast  at 
Tromsoe  before  I  was  off,  with  an  interpreter,  up  the 
barren  Tromsdal,  and  toward  the  Lapp  encampment. 
I  had  not  gone  more  than  half  the  distance,  however, 
before  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  great  herd  of  goats 
appeared  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley.  I  looked 
again  more  carefully  and  then  perceived  that  my  goats 
were  purely  supposititious. 

We  walked  on  a  little  further  and  met  a  Lapp  who 
was  lying  stretched  out  upon  the  grass  watching  a  herd 
of  reindeer.  My  companion  told  him  to  have  them  im- 
mediately driven  up  to  a  corral,  about  two  hundred 
feet  square,  close  by  the  Lapp  huts.  So  having  hal- 
looed to  about  a  dozen  dogs  near  the  deer,  the  process 
of  "  driving  in  "  was  at  once  begun.  I  should  explain 
that  these  dogs  resemble  the  Arctic  fox  in  everything 


THE  REINDEER.  I  55 

but  color.  What  the  shepherd's  dog  is  to  the  Scotch, 
the  deer-hound  is  to  the  Lapp.  The  ingenuity  and  in- 
stinct, if  not  reason,  displayed  by  them  in  collecting, 
keeping  together,  and  driving  a  herd  of  reindeer  are  of 
extreme  interest  in  their  workings.  Without  them  the 
Lapps  could  scarcely  control  their  deer,  for  they  be- 
come at  times  very  restless  and  refractory.  On  this 
occasion  these  intelligent  brutes  would  dash  from  the 
herd  to  collect  a  dozen  stragglers  and  bringing  them 
quickly  in,  would  immediately  dash  out  again  and  turn 
back  others  who  were  wandering  in  the  wrong  direc- 
tion. They  thus  speedily  massed  the  whole  herd,  and 
racing  up  and  down  the  line  kept  them  together  and 
drove  them  forward  at  an  even  pace.  The  dogs  yelped 
and  ran  as  though  it  were  rare  sport  for  them,  and  the 
deer  only  seemed  to  move  when  the  dogs  were  at  their 
heels.  At  a  certain  cry  from  the  herdsman,  the  dogs 
would  bark  much  louder  and  fly  about  as  if  their  very 
lives  were  at  stake.  It  was  an  odd  picture,  the  gentle 
and  coy  deer  crowding  together  through  fear,  the  yaup- 
ing  hounds,  and  the  vociferating  and  gesticulating 
Lapp.  On  came  the  deer  in  a  serried  phalanx  at  a 
slow  trot.  The  dogs  seemed  now  to  be  working  them- 
selves into  a  perfect  fury,  but  it  was  of  no  use,  the  deer 
would  go  no  faster.     At  last  I  had  them  corralled. 

There  were  eight  hundred  in  the  herd — low-built, 
delicately-formed  creatures  with  huge  branching  antlers. 
Most  of  the  animals  were  of  a  dark  slate  color,  though 
a  few  were  brown  and  some  were  quite  white,  with 
pinkish-tipped  horns.     They  were  hardly  three  feet  in 


156  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

height  and  perhaps  four  or  five  feet  in  length.  All  bore 
antlers  or  horns  ;  those  of  the  does  being  smaller  than 
those  of  the  bucks,  while  from  the  foreheads  of  the 
fawns  only  tiny  spikes  were  peeping.  Excepting  those 
of  a  few  very  old  bucks,  the  antlers  of  all  were  "  in  the 
velvet."  Their  great  size  contrasted  strikingly  with  the 
comparatively  small  bodies  of  their  owners.  They  were 
often  as  much  as  four  feet  in  length,  with  branches, 
called  brow-antlers,  projecting  far  forward  from  their 
bases,  and  with  spurs  spreading  out  fan-wise  at  their 
upper  ends.  A  Lapp  lassoed  a  large  plump  buck  and 
drew  him  from  the  herd  that  I  might  have  a  closer  ex- 
amination. At  first  he  appeared  quite  afraid,  making 
frantic  efforts  to  escape,  but  the  man  holding  him  fast, 
he  soon  became  so  quiet  as  to  allow  me  to  pat  him  upon 
the  neck.  The  reindeer  are  very  gentle,  except  in  the 
fall  of  the  year  and  the  winter,  when  they  frequently 
turn  and  attack  the  occupants  of  the  pulkhas.  On  such 
occasions  the  rider  merely  gets  out  and  covers  himself 
with  the  snow-sledge,  against  which  the  deer  having 
entirely  exhausted  his  rage,  the  Lapp  simply  turns  it 
over  again  and  proceeds  on  his  journey  as  if  nothing 
had  happened. 

I  expressed  a  desire  to  taste  some  reindeer  milk,  and 
a  woman  started  at  once  for  the  herd,  while  a  man 
lassoed  a  doe  for  her.  The  milk  I  found  tasted  much 
like  butter  ;  it  was  so  excessively  rich.  The  Laplanders 
either  use  the  milk  fresh  or  make  it  into  cheese.  The 
doe  gives  so  little  milk  that  a  large  herd  would  not 
afford  more  than  what  a  few  families  could  consume. 


THE  REINDEER.  I  57 

The  reindeer  cheese  I  did  not  like  ;  it  was  too  oily  and 
too  strong.  A  cake  of  it  six  inches  in  diameter  and 
two  inches  thick  sells  for  about  forty  cents.  The 
venison  which  I  generally  ate  at  the  hotels  and  on  the 
steamers  was  apt  to  be  tough  and  not  very  highly 
flavored,  but  when  fresh  killed  and  eaten  on  the  moun- 
tains it  is  delicious.  When  the  bucks  are  fat  their  flesh 
actually  seems  to  melt  in  one's  mouth.  Reindeer  meat 
is  very  cheap  in  the  Norwegian  towns. 

When  liberated,  the  great  herd — herds  generally  do 
not  number  more  than  two  or  three  hundred  head — 
trotted  joyfully  up  the  steep  hills  towards  greener  grass 
and  onward  to  the  eternal  snows.  Their  slatey  bodies 
and  white  breasts  and  tails  made  quite  a  pleasing  con- 
trast with  the  verdure  of  the  valley.  The  last  I  saw  of 
them  was  as  a-swarm  of  "ants  upon  the-slopes  of  a  far- 
distant  mountain.  Then  I  turned  and  walked  slowly 
back  to  rejoin  the  steamer ;  my  Norwegian  guide,  who 
nad  lived  twenty  years  in  Tromsoe,  and  who  spoke  the 
Lapp  language  quite  well,  giving  me  much  entertaining 
information  about  the  wonderful  and  valuable  reindeer. 

The  wild  deer  (Cervits  tarandus)  are  found  not  only 
in  Northern  Scandinavia,  but  also  in  Spitzbergen  and 
Nova  Zembla.  Those  in  Norway  generally  live  on 
islands  uninhabited  by  man,  swimming  thither  from  the 
mainland.  They  are  very  shy  and  are  shot  only  by 
being  stalked,  of  course  always  from  the  leeward.  The 
domesticated  deer  is  smaller  in  size  than  his  wild  brother, 
and  is  a  much  less  noble  looking  animal.  A  tame  deer 
lives  about  fifteen  years,  a  wild  one  sometimes  twice  as 


158  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

long.  The  reindeer  cannot  successfully  be  transferred 
to  an  uncongenial  clime.  Such  attempts  as  have  been 
made  to  introduce  them  into  other  countries  have  proved 
fruitless. 

The  reindeer  are  able  to  carry  about  130  pounds,  or 
they  can  draw  over  the  glazed  snow,  when  harnessed  to 
a  sledge,  250  pounds.  In  Siberia,  a  large  species  of  this 
deer  is  ridden  as  well  as  used  for  draught.  In  Lapland 
one  will  readily  travel  ten  miles  an  hour  all  day.  It  is 
recorded  that  a  reindeer  once  drew  an  officer  with  im- 
portant dispatches,  in  1699,  eight  hundred  miles  in  two 
days,  or  an  average  of  sixteen  and  two-third  miles  an 
hour  !  But  this  marvellous  feat  ended  in  the  death  of 
the  deer,  whose  portrait  is  still  preserved  in  the  beauti- 
ful summer  palace  of  Drottningholm,  near  Stockholm. 
An  instance  is  also  on  record  of  twenty  miles  having 
been  made  in  a  single  hour  as  a  test  of  speed. 

The  wealth  of  the  Laplanders  is  computed  from  the 
number  of  their  herds.  Two  hundred  deer  are  enough 
to  support  a  family,  but  rich  Lapps  have  sometimes  as 
many  as  five  thousand.  Some  of  these  people  are  very 
fond  of  money,  and  being  exceedingly  penurious  (ex- 
cept in  the  one  item  of  brandy),  they  soon  accumulate 
what,  for  them,  may  be  regarded  as  small  fortunes. 
Thus  the  owner  of  the  herd  of  deer,  of  which  I  have 
just  been  speaking,  had  besides  it,  nearly  $5,000  in  a 
bank  in  Tromsoe.  The  noble  buck  which  had  been 
lassoed  for  me  was  worth,  its  owner  said,  seven  dol- 
lars. The  reindeer,  however,  are  a  very  precarious 
and  troublesome  property.      In  summer  they  have  to 


THE  REINDEER.  1 59 

be  driven  to  the  coast-mountains,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  cool  and  freer  from  vermin.  In  winter  it  is 
necessary  to  take  them  to  the  great  interior  plains 
where  they  may  more  easily  be  protected  from  beasts 
of  prey.  The  reason  that  the  Laplanders  are  compara- 
tively stationary  in  summer  is,  that  during  that  period 
the  deer  live  upon  grass  and  the  leaves  of  trees,  which 
sufficiently  abound  to  render  long  transmigrations  un- 
necessary. In  winter,  however,  the  Lapps  are  forced 
into  vagrancy,  because  the  reindeer  on  which  they  so 
generally  depend,  subsist  then  upon  the  sparse  and 
widely  scattered  white  lichen,  and  often  have  to  make 
a  long  journey  in  order  to  obtain  it.  This  lichen  or 
moss  is  more  abundant  in  Sweden  than  in  Norway,  and 
the  colder  temperature  of  that  country  is  also  found  to 
be  better  adapted  to  the  health  of  these  animals.  The 
moss  flourishes  only  in  elevated  regions,  and  sometimes 
the  deer  have  to  remove  as  much  as  six  feet  of  snow  to 
get  at  it.  This  they  do  with  their  feet,  and  their  fore- 
head and  nose,  which  are  protected  by  a  remarkably 
hard  skin.  When  going  on  a  journey  the  Lapps  take  a 
supply  of  this  moss  with  them,  about  four  pounds  a  day 
being  sufficient  for  an  animal. 

The  camel  is  not  more  necessary  to  the  Arab  of  the 
desert  than  is  the  reindeer  to  the  Lapp.  But  for  this 
useful  animal  Lapland  would  scarcely  be  habitable. 
Its  hoof  is  as  remarkably  adapted  for  travel  in  the 
snow  and  morasses  of  the  frigid  zone,  as  the  hoof  of  the 
camel  is  for  the  sand  and  hillocks  of  the  burning  tor- 
rid belt.    Hence  the  reindeer  has  been  fancifully  styled 


l6o  NOPSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

the  Camel  of  the  North.  The  wants  of  the  simple  race 
among  whom  he  dwells  are  but  few,  and  the  reindeer 
supplies  them  with  almost  everything  essential  for  the 
support  of  life.  All  that  we  derive  from  the  horse,  the 
ox,  and  the  sheep,  this  wonderful  little  beast  furnishes 
the  Laplander.  Much  of  the  meat,  in  its  fresh  state, 
is  cooked  and  used  as  food,  but  some,  after  being  cut 
into  thin  slices,  is  dried  or  smoked,  and  then  takes  the 
place  of  bread,  which  would  be  a  luxury  to  this  people 
could  they  get  it.  They  generally  boil  the  flesh  in 
the  huge  kettles  with  which  every  hut  or  tent  is  fur- 
nished. Standing  around  these,  each  person  dips  in 
his  horn  or  wooden  spoon  and  swallows  the  soup  and 
meat  while  they  are  still  scalding  hot. 

The  pemmican  which  the  Arctic  explorers  use  is 
made  from  reindeer  flesh.  The  idea  was  probably  bor- 
rowed from  the  Lapps  who,  when  they  migrate  from  one 
part  of  the  country  to  another,  always  take  with  them, 
for  travelling  provision,  a  quantity  of  the  reindeer  meat 
which  has  been  dried  in  the  air  and  probably  also  har- 
dened with  smoke.  Pemmican  consists  simply  of  strips 
of  venison  dried  by  the  sun  or  wind,  then  pounded  into 
a  paste  and  tightly  pressed  into  cakes.  In  this  form  it 
will  keep  for  a  long  time  uninjured.  The  object  is  of 
course  to  compress  the  largest  amount  of  nutriment  into 
the  smallest  possible  space.  The  lichen  or  moss  (tech- 
nically Cladonis  rangiferina),  so  important  a  winter  sus- 
tenance for  the  reindeer,  is  also  capable  of  being  used 
for  human  food.  Its  nutritive  properties  consist  chiefly 
of  the  lichenin  or  starch  which  it  contains.     Its  taste  is 


THE   REINDEER.  l6l 

not  considered  unpleasant  when  it  is  boiled  with  rein- 
deer milk. 

In  continuing  my  recapitulation  of  the  services  ren- 
dered the  Lapps  by  the  reindeer,  I  come  to  speak  of  its 
milk,  which  they  drink  fresh,  and  besides  make  from  it 
a  rank  and  unctuous  cheese  and  a  rich  kind  of  butter 
that  tastes  like  suet.  From  the  cheese  an  oil  is  made 
which  is  the  sovereign  specific  for  frozen  flesh.  The 
whey  is  used  for  drink,  and  in  some  instances  is  fer- 
mented and  distilled  into  an  intoxicating  spirit  analo- 
gous to  that  called  koumiss,  which  the  Kalmucks  make 
from  mare's  or  camel's  milk.  The  skins  of  the  deer 
furnish  the  winter  tents  of  the  Laplanders,  their  blankets 
and  necessary  articles  of  clothing,  both  for  summer  and 
winter,  and  in  short,  serve  almost  every  purpose  to 
which  we  apply  cloth  or  leather.  The  antlers  furnish 
many  requisites  of  their  culinary  and  household  appa- 
ratus. The  women  prepare  from  the  tendons,  by  rolling 
them  with  their  hands  upon  their  cheeks,  a  thread  which 
surpasses  all  others  in  strength  and  durability.  The 
only  household  gods  which  the  Lapps  have  are  also 
made  from  the  sinews  of  the  deer.  Finally,  from  the 
sale  of  the  milk,  the  cheese,  the  butter,  the  skins,  the 
venison,  and  the  tongues — which  are  considered  great 
delicacies  in  the  foreign  countries  to  which  they  are  ex- 
ported by  the  Norwegians,  Swedes  and  Finns — the  Lap- 
lander can  generally  procure  the  means  of  satisfying  all 
his  other  wants. 

This  then,  is  a  slight  and  imperfect  view  of  the  pas- 
toral existence  of  a  tribe  of  primitive  heathen  in  the 


1 62  A'ORSA',  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

Arctic  regions  of  northwestern  Europe.  I  desire  only 
to  supplement  it,  in  concluding  this  division  of  my 
narrative,  by  a  brief  presentation  of  the  rosy  side  of 
Lapponian  life  "  adapted  " — as  the  playwrights  say — 
from  the  French  of  Buffon. 

i  Neither  the  coldness  of  winter,  nor  the  length  of  the 
nights ;  neither  the  wildness  of  the  forests,  nor  the  vag- 
rant disposition  of  the  herd,  interrupts  the  even  tenor 
of  the  Lapp's  life.  By  night  and  day  is  he  seen  attend- 
ing his  favorite  cattle,  remaining  unaffected  in  a  season 
which  would  be  speedy  death  to  those  bred  in  milder 
climates.  He  gives  himself  no  uneasiness  to  house  his 
herds,  or  to  provide  a  winter  subsistence  for  them  ;  he 
is  at  the  trouble  neither  of  manuring  his  grounds,  nor 
of  bringing  in  his  harvest  ;  he  is  not  the  hireling  of 
another's  luxury  ;  all  his  labors  are  to  obviate  the  diffi- 
culties of  his  own  situation  ;  and  these  he  undergoes 
with  cheerfulness,  as  he  is  sure  to  enjoy  the  fruit  of  his 
own  industry. 

If,  therefore,  we  compare  the  Laplander  with  the 
peasant  of  more  southern  regions,  we  shall  have  little 
reason  to  pity  the  former's  situation.  The  climate  in 
which  he  lives  is  terrible  to  us  rather  than  to  him  ;  and 
as  for  the  rest,  he  is  blessed  with  liberty,  plenty,  and 
ease.  The  reindeer  alone  supplies  him  with  all  the 
needs  of  life,  and  some  of  its  conveniences  ;  serving  to 
show  how  many  advantages  nature  is  capable  of  sup- 
plying when  necessity  gives  the  call.  The  poor  little 
helpless  native,  originally  driven  perhaps  by  fear  or 
famine  into  those  inhospitable  climes,  would  seem,  at 


THE  REINDEER.  1 63 

first  view,  to  be  the  most  wretched  of  mankind  ;  but  it 
is  far  otherwise  ;  he  looks  round  among  the  few  wild 
animals  his  barren  country  can  maintain,  and  singles 
out  one  from  among  them,  of  a  sort  which  the  rest  of 
mankind  have  not  thought  worth  taking  from  a  state  of 
nature  ;  this  he  cultivates  and  multiplies  ;  and  from  this 
alone  derives  every  comfort  that  he  greatly  craves. 


CHAPTER   XV. 
Over  the  Kiolen  Fiellen. 

In  general  I  found  the  Norwegians  exceedingly- 
ignorant  of  their  own  country.  Not  being  able  to  learn 
anything  of  value  concerning  my  proposed  route  across 
the  Scandinavian  peninsula,  I  simply  had  to  go  on  day 
by  day,  literally  feeling  my  way  and  thus  virtually  ex- 
ploring the  country  for  myself.  Nor  do  these  people 
seem  to  have  any  more  exact  knowledge  of  time  or  in- 
terest in  it  than  the  Orientals.  You  might  as  well  try 
to  hasten  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  as  to  hasten 
a  Norwegian  peasant.  In  making  their  plans  an  un- 
punctuality  of  half  a  day  one  way  or  the  other  appears 
to  make  no  difference  to  them.  I  inquired  of  several 
of  the  residents  of  Bodo  the  hour  of  sailing  of  a  little 
local  steamer  which  ran  up  the  Salten  fiord,  thus  for- 
warding me  about  fifty  miles  upon  my  journey.  But 
no  two  persons  gave  me  the  same  hour.  The  average 
report  would  have  made  it  at  six  o'clock,  but  it  was  ten 
before  we  were  fairly  off.  The  scenery  of  the  fiord  was 
rather  tame,  but  there  were  some  grand  views  of  distant 
snow-capped  peaks. 

During  the  afternoon  we  came  upon  a  sort  of  whirl- 
pool similar  to  the  maelstrom  of  the  Loffodens,  only 


OVER    THE  KIOLEN  FI ELLEN.  1 65 

much  smaller.  Our  steamer  not  being  able  to  pass  un- 
til a  lower  tide,  I  embraced  the  opportunity  to  go  on 
shore  to  that  part  of  the  narrow  channel  where  the 
water  seemed  most  violently  agitated.  Here  stands  a 
small  stone  obelisk — smaller  than  that  in  Central  Park 
— erected  by  the  patriotic  countryfolk  to  King  Oscar, 
in  commemoration  of  his  visit  in  1873.  The  miniature 
maelstrom  is  in  a  huge  basin  which  is  filled  and  emptied 
by  the  tide  twice  a  day.  The  forcing  of  a  great  body 
of  water  through  a  narrow  channel  causes  the  dangerous 
current  here,  as  is  the  case  with  the  mammoth  whirl- 
pool of  the  Loffodens.  The  fishermen  are  accustomed 
to  pay  but  little  attention  to  it,  though  occasionally 
their  boats  are  sucked  into  the  swirling  eddies.  The 
boats,  however,  are  always  cast  up  again  after  a  few 
moments  a  long  distance  from  the  spot  where  they 
sunk.  Men  have  been  known  to  be  ingulfed  several 
times,  and  coming  to  the  surface  have  eventually  been 
saved.  The  current  also  frequently  brings  shoals  of 
small  fish  to  the  surface  and  hence,  as  I  noticed,  the 
neighborhood  was  full  of  gulls.  These  alighted  upon 
the  rocks  by  thousands,  the  flocks  resembling  falling 
snow.  So  many  fish  are  drawn  through  this  channel 
by  each  tide  that  quite  a  little  fisherman's  village  has 
sprung  up  there.  On  the  shores  of  the  inner  fiord  were 
many  fertile  clearings  around  single-story  farm-houses, 
and  also  much  grass  land  and  many  great  fields  of 
potatoes.  The  hills  were  covered  with  scrubby  birch. 
At  last  we  arrived  at  a  little  town  called  Rognan,  at  the 
head  of  the  fiord,  after  a  ''edious  passage  of  fifty  miles, 


1 66  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

which  we  succeeded  in  accomplishing  in  twelve 
hours  ! 

Rognan  presents  a  very  singular  appearance,  since 
it  seems  to  consist  of  about  fifty  dwellings,  looking  like 
boat-houses,  placed  in  a  semi-circle,  with  their  gable 
ends  toward  the  fiord.  On  landing  I  found  that  the 
remainder  of  the  village  consisted  of  small  block- 
houses huddled  together  without  any  attempt  at  streets. 
These  being  invariably  closed,  I  had  supposed  the  in- 
habitants were  attending  some  fair,  or  had  gone  per- 
haps to  a  great  hunt,  or  even  to  the  town  of  Bodo. 
But  no,  as  there  is  a  church  at  Rognan  the  people  for 
miles  around  come  weekly  thither  to  attend  divine  serv- 
ice, and  these  huts  are  used  only  as  stables  for  their 
horses  during  their  brief  visits.  The  inhabitants  there- 
abouts farm  during  the  summer  and  fish  at  the  Loffo- 
dens  during  the  winter.  Not  finding  any  decent  lodg- 
ing-place, I  succeeded  finally  in  obtaining  a  little  cart 
and  horse  with  which  to  seek  some  farm-house  farther 
up  the  valley.  This  I  eventually  accomplished,  after 
having  driven  through  a  pleasing  agricultural  district 
and  by  the  banks  of  a  swiftly  flowing  river.  Though 
the  house  was  well  furnished  and  had  good  beds,  so  in- 
ferior is  the  Norwegian  diet  that  I  could  get  for  supper 
absolutely  nothing  but  sour  brown  bread  and  some 
cheese  that  would  have  put  Methuselah,  of  Old  Tes- 
tament fame,  to  blush  for  his  comparative  adoles- 
cence. 

On  the  following  day,  having  taken  a  long  walk 
over  the  neighboring  country  with  a  young  Norwegian 


OVER    THE  KIOLEN  FI ELLEN.  1 67 

who  happened  to  speak  fair  English,  we  stopped  at  a 
small  farm-house  to  see  whether  its  inmates  could  not 
give  us  something  for  lunch.  The  house  was  a  type  of 
many  in  the  interior  of  Norway.  It  consisted  chiefly 
of  one  large  sitting-room  and  a  small  dairy  on  the 
ground-floor,  above  which  was  simply  an  attic  used  for 
sleeping  purposes.  The  walls  and  ceilings  of  the  large 
room  were  nothing  more  than  the  smoothed  surfaces  of 
the  logs  of  which  the  entire  house  was  built.  In  one 
corner  was  an  immense  open  fireplace  used  for  cook- 
ing the  food  and  heating  the  room  except  in  very  cold, 
windy  weather,  when,  the  draught  being  too  great,  a 
coarse  iron  stove  was  employed.  When  not  otherwise 
occupied  the  hearthstone  seems  to  be  the  favorite  loung- 
ing-place  of  the  small  children,  who  often  stretch  them- 
selves out  beside  it  at  full  length.  A  box  bed  stood  in 
one  corner  and  a  plain  board  table  and  chairs  com- 
pleted the  furniture.  The  family  consisted  of  father, 
mother  and  four  children.  They  wore  dresses  of 
homely  woolen  stuff  and  the  Lapp  shoes  already  de- 
scribed. Five  other  of  their  children,  they  said,  had 
emigrated  to  America.  The  good  people  set  before  us 
a  huge  wooden  bowl  of  milk  upon  which  the  cream  was 
at  least  half  an  inch  thick.  This  milk  had  stood  but 
twenty-four  hours  and  yet  the  cream  was  so  solid  you 
could  hardly  distinguish  it  from  curd.  The  conven- 
tional method  of  eating  it  is  with  sugar,  skimming  oft 
only  the  surface.  Consumed  in  this  manner  it  is  both 
a  wholesome  and  a  luscious  lollipop.  Together  with 
some  rye  bread  or  barley  meal  it  forms  the  chief  and 


1 68  NOA'SA',  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

choicest  food  of  the  farmers  in  this  district,  reminding 
one  of  Dryden's  line  : 

"  Curds  and  cream,  the  flower  of  country  fare." 

The  only  spoons  furnished  me  were  made  of  ox-horn, 
and  were  at  least  three  inches  in  diameter.  They  seem 
well  adapted  for  skimming  cream,  though  they  are  cer- 
tainly several  sizes  too  large  for  the  average  mouth. 
These  simple  people  treated  me  most  generously,  and 
laughingly  said  that  though  their  home  and  food  were 
not  fine,  yet  I  was  most  welcome  to  their  hospitality,  such 
as  it  was. 

On  the  way  back  to  my  own  quarters,  I  met  an 
English  sportsman  hard  at  work  with  rod  and  reel,  knee- 
deep  in  a  great  mountain  torrent.  Being  without  a  letter 
of  introduction,  I  approached  him  in  an  apologetic 
manner,  not  unlike  that  which  Mr.  Stanley  assumed 
upon  meeting  with  the  late  Dr.  Livingstone  in  Central 
Africa.  "  An  English  gentleman  angling  for  salmon,  I 
presume  ?  "  "Yes,"  he  replied,  "I  have  just  come  out 
for  a  little  bit  of  fishing,  you  know  ;  my  hut  is  over 
yonder  and  if,"  seeing  me  travel-stained  and  tired,  "  if 
you  will  be  so  good  as  to  see  my  butler,  he  will  give  you 
anything  you  want  to  eat  or  drink,  and  try  and  make 
you  comfortable  while  you  wait  for  your  post-horse — " 
supposing  that  I  was  bound  down  the  valley.  This  was 
indeed  "  richness,"  as  Squeers  would  say.  It  is  needless 
to  add  that  I  forthwith  repaired  to  the  polite  fisherman's 
"  hut."  A  short  walk  brought  me  to  a  brand-new  cot- 
tage, with  comfortable  sitting  and  dining  rooms  below. 


OVER    THE  KIOLEN  FI ELLEN.  1 69 

and  sleeping  apartments  above.  The  plain  wooden 
walls  of  the  sitting-room  were  covered  with  sporting 
miscellany.  On  one  side  was  a  small  library,  on  another 
the  gentleman's  writing-desk.  Opposite  stood  the  work- 
table  of  his  wife,  who  was  also  passionately  addicted  to 
sport.  Consoles  covered  with  London  illustrated  papers 
and  a  carpenter's  bench  completed  the  furnishing  of  the 
apartment.  In  the  dining-room  were  imported  china 
and  glassware,  and  decanters  of  sherry  and  claret.  From 
before  the  door  the  trees  had  been  so  felled  as  to  give  a 
splendid  view  of  hill  and  stream,  with  rough  snow-peaks 
beyond.  When  I  add  that  the  salmon  in  the  adjoining 
rivers  and  lakes  sometimes  reach  a  weight  of  thirty 
pounds,  and  that  this  gentleman  has  his  own  English 
cook  and  butler  with  him,  I  have  given  you  a  fair  idea 
of  a  sportsman's  paradise  in  Norway. 

I  continued  my  journey  in  a  clumsy  cart  upon  the 
bank  of  the  Salten  River,  which  I  had  afterwards  to 
cross  to  obtain  lodging  for  the  night.  But  upon  walking 
to  its  edge  I  learned  that  the  ferryboat  was  upon  the 
opposite  side  and  that  all  the  people  there  had  gone  to 
bed.  I  mildly  suggested  the  propriety  of  having  a  boat 
on  each  side  in  case  of  an  emergency  like  the  present,  but 
the  ferryman  said  that  no  boat  would  cross  the  river 
until  the  following  morning,  and  thus  was  I  igno- 
miniously  silenced.  By  walking  a  mile  down  the  river, 
however,  I  succeeded  in  finding  an  old  skiff,  in  which  I 
finally  crossed  and  proceeded  up  the  opposite  side  to  a 
small  village,  where  I  was  originally  to  have  spent  the 
night. 


I/O  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

The  guide  much  amused  me  by  immediately  striding 
into  one  of  the  houses — the  doors  of  country-houses 
in  Norway  never  being  locked — waking  the  sleeping  in- 
mates, turning  them  out  of  the  only  room  they  possessed, 
and  setting  them  at  once  to  work  preparing  it  for  my 
occupation.  He  then  went  just  as  unceremoniously 
into  a  neighboring  house  and  brought  out  a  partially- 
dressed  woman,  who  saluted  me  quite  cordially,  consid- 
ering the  circumstances.  Nearly  everything  seemed  to 
be  cleared  out  of  the  large  room,  including  a  bundle  of 
hay  and  a  baby,  and  then  I  was  politely  asked  to  enter 
and  make  myself  "at  home."  The  bed  I  found  was  of 
reindeer-skins  below,  and  of  sheep-skins  above.  In  one 
corner  a  huge  clock,  with  a  pendulum  fully  six  feet  in 
length,  was  ticking  so  much  like  a  chime  of  cathedral 
bells  that  I  immediately  reached  forth  my  hand  and 
hushed  its  frenzied  beatings — I  trust  forever.  Then, 
spread  out  upon  the  skins,  with  two  tallow  candles  each 
nearly  three  feet  in  length  on  each  side,  I  had  a  vague 
and  dreamy  sense  of  being  laid  out  for  a  wake  like  that 
of  Conn  the  Shaughraun.  In  the  morning  upon  arising 
from  my  crazy  couch,  so  much  wool  and  so  many  hairs 
from  the  robes  were  sticking  to  my  dark  clothes,  that  I 
had  the  appearance  of  having  been  tarred  and  feathered. 

The  utter  ignorance  of  the  great  strong  farm  girls  in 
properly  setting  the  table  for  breakfast  was  amusing. 
Their  custom  is  to  eat  from  a  common  dish  with  huge 
horn  spoons.  A  plate  for  each  person  evidently  would 
be  regarded  as  an  unnecessary  extravagance.  They  tried 
so  hard  to  please  me,  however,  that  I  told  my  Norwe- 


OVER    THE  KIOLEN  FI ELLEN.  I/I 

gian  guide  to  thank  them  most  heartily  for  the  barley 
cakes,  a  huge  stack  of  which  was  laid  upon  the  table  ; 
for  the  milk,  a  gallon  pan  of  which  stood  at  my  left 
hand  ;  and  most  of  all,  I  begged  him  to  speak  of  my 
keen  appreciation  of  the  kind  wish  "Ever  be  happy" 
expressed  in  good  Norsk  upon  the  gilded  coffee  cup, 
seemingly  a  family  gift  taken  from  the  mantel-piece.  A 
hurried  adieu — it  is  the  same  slightly  changed  word  in 
so  many  languages — and  I  am  off  again  across  the  river 
to  the  post-station.  Here  I  found  awaiting  my  arrival  a 
horse  fastened  to  what  was  but  little  more  than  a  pair 
of  wheels  about  a  foot  each  in  diameter.  My  trifling 
luggage  was  strapped  behind  somewhere,  and  a  man, 
walking  or  trotting  beside  the  cart,  drove  the  horse. 

The  road  was  a  mere  track,  full  of  holes,  roots  and 
stones,  and  led  up  and  down  such  steep  inclines  that  I 
preferred  to  walk  most  of  the  time.  The  country  was 
not  specially  interesting.  We  were  still  following  the 
rushing  stream  up  the  valley,  passing  several  small  vil- 
lages and  many  fields  of  rye,  barley  and  potatoes. 
There  was  also  some  good  grass  land.  The  valley 
could  not  have  been  more  than  a  mile  in  width,  and 
was  walled  in  by  rocky  mountains,  sparsely  covered 
with  small  trees  and  birch  scrub.  Afterwards  we 
wended  our  way  through  great  pine  woods.  Much  tar 
was  once  made  here,  but  now  the  burning-furnaces  are 
all  overgrown  with  weeds.  Soon  we  turned  sharply  to 
the  east  and  entered  one  of  the  most  savage  and  grand 
cailons  I  had  seen  anywhere  in  Norway.  It  is  called 
Junkersdalen.     Not  more  than  two  hundred  yards  in 


172  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

width  at  any  point,  it  is  perhaps  a  couple  of  English 
miles  in  length.  There  is  but  little  more  than  sufficient 
room  by  the  side  of  the  Salten  River  for  a  road  four 
feet  in  width — so  that  when  two  vehicles  meet,  one 
must  perforce  turn  back.  This  seems  a  puerile  ar. 
rangement  until  one  remembers  the  fewness  of  farmers 
and  carts,  and  the  great  expense  to  such  poor  people 
of  building  a  road.  Perpendicular  and  often  overhang- 
ing cliffs  of  black  rock  line  the  cafion  throughout  its  en- 
tire length.  Their  strata  often  lie  at  an  angle  of  forty- 
five  degrees.  They  are  fractured  and  split  and  twisted 
and  hung  in  such  precarious  positions  as  to  excite 
one's  alarm  as  well  as  wonder.  The  torrent  thun- 
ders along  in  wild  cataracts  of  foam,  caused  by  the 
many  huge  fragments  which  have  already  been  hurled 
from  the  vertical  mountain  walls.  In  summer,  travel 
here  is  comparatively  safe,  but  in  the  winter  and  spring 
avalanches  of  snow,  ice,  earth  and  rock  are  so  frequent 
that  the  neighboring  people  dare  not  traverse  the  valley 
at  all.  Several  of  the  peaks  attain  an  altitude  of  3,000 
feet,  and  one  of  them,  called  Salvaagtind,  a  huge  pyra- 
midal mass  of  stone  at  the  end  of  the  pass,  is  over 
5,000  feet  in  height.  This  stands  a  grim  old  sentinel 
at  the  portal  of  a  beautiful  valley  of  grass  land  where 
there  are  several  houses,  at  one  of  which  I  succeeded 
in  securing  tolerable  accommodation. 

On  the  following  morning  I  made  what  might  be 
termed  a  seven-inch  toilet,  i.  e.,  one-half  inch  of  water 
in  a  flat  tin  dish,  one  and  a  half  inches  of  yellow  soap, 
two  inches  of  horn  comb,  and  three  inches  of  frameless 


OVER    THE  KIOLEN  FI ELLEN.  1 73 

looking-glass  —  total,  seven  inches.  But  why  dwell 
upon  such  trivialities  when  I  had  the  bracing  mountain 
air  and  found  awaiting  me  a  restive  Rosinante,  clothed, 
certainly,  though  I  was  not  so  sure  of  his  being  in  his 
right  mind.  It  seems  the  kind  people  had  improvised 
for  me  a  saddle  which  consisted  simply  of  a  bag  of  hay, 
while  the  bridle  was  coarse  twine.  The  former,  with 
the  addition  of  a  pair  of  stirrups  made  of  a  couple  of 
leather  straps,  proved  very  comfortable  on  starting  out, 
but  after  riding  a  few  miles  I  could  have  sworn  there 
was  not  a  spear  of  dried  grass  under  me,  every  bit  was 
in  the  ends  of  the  bag.  And  so  in  unwonted  imitation 
of  the  circus-riders,  I  was  compelled  to  do  a  "  great 
bare-back  act  "  all  the  day  long. 

We  followed  the  trail  on  and  up  the  valley,  fording 
the  stream  several  times.  It  was  one  of  the  roughest 
tracks  I  have  ever  seen,  part  morass,  part  sharp  rocks 
and  tough  roots.  The  horses  floundered  about  and 
mine,  fell  with  me  several  times,  but  I  escaped  with 
only  a  sprained  wrist.  In  addition  to  this  danger  from 
below  there  was  another  from  above  :  the  birch  and  fir 
trees  of  the  forest  were  so  low  and  so  thickly  interlaced 
as  to  nearly  unhorse  us  several  times.  Evading,  how- 
ever, the  fortuitous  fate  of  Absalom,  son  of  David,  we 
went  on,  constantly  ascending,  until  we  reached  a  region 
of  moss  and  snow.  Here  we  had  not  the  slightest  trail 
to  direct  us,  my  guide  simply  went  up  certain  valleys 
and  along  particular  ranges,  in  general  directions  which 
he  seemed  to  guess  at  more  than  anything  else.  We 
mounted  through  the  usual  zones  of  vegetable  growth — 


1/4  NOPSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

firs,  birches,  and  lichens.  Several  snow-clad  peaks  were 
near  at  hand  and  I  rode  my  horse  across  a  few  glaciers. 
Crossing  the  boundary  line,  we  lunched  in  Sweden  and 
from  this  spot  gradually  descended  a  long  valley  until, 
late  in  the  afternoon,  the  first  Swedish  house  was 
reached.  As  I  feared,  there  was  no  food  to  be  had  there 
save  some  sour  black  bread,  old  musty  cheese,  and  thick 
sour  milk. 

In  the  morning  at  an  early  hour  I  continued  my 
way,  having  engaged  a  man  to  carry  my  luggage.  After 
a  rough  walk  of  five  miles  down  a  valley,  through  mo- 
rasses and  birch  woods,  we  reached  a  leaky  skiff  which 
was  drawn  up  among  the  rushes  on  the  side  of  a  small 
river.  In  this  we  rowed  to  a  long  narrow  lake,  which 
was  traversed  in  half  an  hour,  and  then  we  had  another 
tramp  to  still  another  lake  lined  with  graceful  birch- 
covered  banks.  The  woods  were  full  of  young  partrid- 
ges, a  number  of  which  the  guide's  dog,  a  lively  little 
cocker,  succeeded  in  killing.  I  had  sent  a  man  for- 
ward on  foot  to  order  me  a  boat  here,  and  soon  we  saw 
it  coming  over  the  lake,  rowed  by  a  woman  and  a  man. 
I  did  not  object  on  this  occasion  to  the  woman's  "  put- 
ting in  her  oar,"  for  she  seemed  thoroughly  capable  of 
"paddling  her  own  canoe."  So  on  we  went  rapidly 
down  the  lakes,  for  I  had  now  reached  one  of  the  many 
great  chains  of  lakes  and  rivers  which  extend  from  the 
sub-hills  of  Norway  half  across  Sweden,  and  form  the 
water-roads  of  the  neighboring  farmers. 

The  farm-houses,  which  are  invariably  of  logs  and 
painted  red,  seem  mostly  to  be  built  after  one  pattern. 


OVER    THE  KIOLEN  FI ELLEN.  1 75 

Down  stairs  there  is  a  large  kitchen,  a  dairy,  and  two 
small  bedrooms  heated  by  little  stoves  in  the  corners, 
and  above  them  a  loft  in  which  the  men  sleep.  You 
usually  find  about  a  dozen  children  in  each,  dirty  and 
half-clothed,  but  apparently  healthy  and  happy.  All 
the  houses  have  the  huge  chimney  fire-places  before 
mentioned.  At  night  you  can  get  neither  lamp  nor 
candle,  an  additional  pine  stick  thrown  upon  the  fire 
being  the  only  method  of  illumination  in  vogue.  There 
is  no  use  for  artificial  light.  The  farmers  do  not  read 
much  and  rising  at  dawn  are  so  tired  after  the  labors 
of  the  day  that  they  go  to  bed  at  dusk.  The  knowledge 
of  cooking  is  extremely  limited,  and  the  dishes  served 
up  to  the  hungry  traveller  are  therefore  plain  and  few. 
The  culinary  utensils  being  made  of  anything  that  will 
serve  the  purpose,  are  as  heterogeneous  as  the  paucity 
of  their  number  will  permit.  They  defy  classification, 
each  being  unique.  There  are  barns  near  these  farm- 
houses which  usually  contain  stalls  for  half  a  dozen 
cows  and  pens  for  the  sheep  and  goats  which  most 
families  possess. 

I  had  a  long  "  carry  "  around  some  rapids  and  then 
entered  another  boat  which  leaked  so  badly  as  to  re- 
quire one  person  to  bail  it  continually.  The  boats  em- 
ployed  by  the  farmers  in  this  lake  navigation  are  about 
twenty  feet  in  length  and  four  in  width  in  the  middle, 
with  sharp  ends  rising  high  in  the  air.  A  small  square 
sail,  made  of  coarse  bagging,  is  so  arranged  as  to  be 
hoisted  and  lowered  by  the  steersman  without  his  leav- 
ing his  seat.     When  there  is  no  wind  the  boats  are  pro- 


1/6  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

pelled  simply  by  rowing,  which  soon  becomes  tedious. 
The  country  can  hardly  be  called  settled,  unless  houses 
eight  or  ten  miles  apart  would  entitle  it  to  be  so  desig- 
nated. During  the  afternoon  I  re-passed  the  Arctic 
Circle.  I  had  entered  this  remote  region  of  the  globe 
by  salt  water ;  I  was  leaving  it  by  fresh.  My  circum- 
polar  jaunt  had  covered  more  than  twelve  hundred 
miles  of  land  and  sea. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Among  the  Happy  Innocents. 

At  midnight   I   reached  Jaggvik,  two  houses  and 
several  barns  situated  at  the  head  of  a  long  lake  called 
Hornafvan.     The  family  had  retired  at  the  house  where 
I  called  in  search  of  some  supper  and  a  night's  lodging, 
but  they  all — and  there  were  seven  of  them — got  up  and 
cordially  welcomed  me.     A  great  fire  of  blazing  pine 
sticks  was  made  and  by  its  cheerful  light  I  ate  my  hum- 
ble meal  of  the  omnipresent  barley  cakes  and  cream. 
I  was  given  a  bed  in  the  kitchen,  where  four  others  slept 
upon  the  floor.     My  preparations  for  bed  were  curiously 
watched  by  the  entire  family.     Several  times  after  sup- 
per I  was  told  (and  as  I   had  already  made  a  fair  ac- 
quaintance with  Swedish,  I  understood)  that  there  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  kitchen  was  my  bed.     I  was 
only  waiting  until  the  young  ladies  should  leave  the 
room.     Finally,  seeing  no  hopes  of  their  departure,  I 
became  desperate  and  boldly  undressed  and  went  to 
bed,  saying  to  myself  if  they  could  stand  it,  I  certainly 
could.     The  unsophisticated  creatures  nevertheless  all 
stood  their  ground,  chatting   pleasantly   together   and 
laughing  as  if  there  could  be  nothing  in  the  world  so 
droll  as   seeing  an  American  go  to  bed.     Doubtless, 


178  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

with  such  surroundings,  they  were  in  the  right.  Their 
kind  hospitality,  however,  touched  me  deeply  and  I  cor- 
dially forgave  them  their  laugh  at  my  expense. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  find  prepared  for 
me  a  very  grand  barge  with  a  cloth  sail,  and  three  men, 
the  father  and  two  sons,  to  row  when  the  wind  fails. 
One  of  the  young  ladies  also  accompanies  me.  I  give 
her  the  place  of  honor  at  the  stern  and  seat  myself  at 
her  feet  upon  a  pile  of  skins  and  rugs.  I  tell  her  I  am 
writing  home  of  her  lovely  blue  eyes  and  fair  hair  ;  and 
bright  answering  blushes  make  her  simple  beauty  a  still 
more  beautiful  reward  for  my  poor  compliment.  She 
is  quite  happy  and  I  am  her  friend  for  the  remainder  of 
the  voyage. 

The  lake  averages  a  mile  in  width.  The  shores 
are  very  low  and  covered  with  birch  scrub  inter- 
spersed with  firs.  At  noon  we  stop  at  a  small  island 
for  lunch.  This  proves  quite  a  picnic.  Upon  landing 
I  see  put  on  shore  a  huge  box  which  I  suppose  contains 
clothes  or  merchandise  of  some  sort  for  a  house  near  at 
hand.  But  imagine  my  surprise  when  one  of  the  boys 
unlocking  it,  discloses  to  view  a  luncheon  sufficient  for 
ten  men.  There  are  dried  fish,  dried  reindeer  meat, 
dried  goat's  cheese,  dried  barley  cakes  and  dried  butter; 
and  yet,  sad  to  relate,  but  far  sadder  to  experience, 
with  all  this  dreadful  aridness  there  is  nothing  to  drink, 
not  even  milk.  However,  one  who  has  been  seven  or  ' 
eight  hours  in  an  open  boat  among  the  mountain  lakes 
is  not  apt  to  be  over  dainty  or  exacting.  Anything 
edible  that  is  reasonably  nice  then  becomes  toothsome 


AMONG    THE   HAPPY  INNOCENTS  1 79 

to  him.  This  Swedish  bill-of-fare  is  only  referred  to 
here  in  order  to  assist  the  reader  in  forming  an  idea  of 
the  habits  of  the  people.  Their  meals  seem  to  employ 
at  least  a  large,  if  not  a  very  important,  portion  of  their 
lives.  After  lunch  we  continue  on  our  way,  sailing 
when  the  capricious  wind  favors,  and  at  other  times 
rowing,  until  evening,  when  we  reach  the  little  town  of 
Arjepluog,  which  stands  at  the  foot  of  the  Hornafvan. 
Here  I  find  a  very  comfortable  post-house  and  feel 
almost  as  if  I  had  reached  civilization  again. 

From  Bodo,  over  the  mountains  and  down  to  this 
place,  I  seem  to  have  been  witnessing  a  miniature  his- 
tory of  culture.  Thus  from  numerous  characteristics 
of  the  bronze  or  barbarian  age,  my  journey  took  me 
through  the  iron  or  semi-civilized  epoch  to  the  press  or 
civilized  age,  and  afterwards  reached,  at  Pitea,  the  era 
of  steam,  and  the  outskirts  of  enlightenment.  I  began 
with  the  Lapps  on  the  wild  treeless  fields,  living  in  tents 
and  travelling  with  their  herds,  which  satisfy  all  their 
simple  wants,  both  of  food  and  clothing.  Their  domestic 
utensils  were  few  and  rude  ;  their  work  tending  the  deer  ; 
their  recreation  drinking  finkel.  Next  I  reached  the 
ficldstue,  a  rude  mountain  hut  with  scarcely  any  furni- 
ture and  but  one  or  two  articles  of  diet,  upon  which  all 
fed,  thrusting  their  hands  into  a  common  dish.  The 
cow  was  their  best  and  apparently  only  friend.  Though 
these  people  were  Norwegians,  they  were  so  poor  and  so 
shiftless  as  to  possess  very  few  of  the  comforts  or  even 
conveniences  of  life.  Then  I  met  the  farmers  at  the 
base  of  the  mountains   in   Sweden.      These  dwelt  in 


1  80  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

houses  with  a  spare  room,  which  was  heated  by  a  stove. 
They  wore  a  little  better  clothing,  though  they  appeared 
to  have  no  greater  variety  of  food  than  the  occupants 
of  the  ficldstue.  But  they  maintained  a  flock  of  sheep, 
housed  their  cattle  in  warm  sheds,  and  had  apparatus 
for  catching  fish.  Their  boats,  however,  were  rudely 
made  of  large  planks  and  leaked  continually.  Then 
again,  I  stopped  at  a  station  where  the  people  were  quite 
well  dressed  and  had  their  hair  combed.  Their  barns 
were  larger,  and  some  attempt  was  made  to  keep  their 
dwellings  in  order.  Afterwards  I  entered  a  house  in 
which  the  owner  sat  at  the  table  reading  a  book,  and 
had  his  walls  covered  with  Scripture  texts.  He  was 
doubtless  a  very  learned  and  pious  man,  but  he  lost  my 
respect  by  giving  me  some  bad  coffee  and  worse  pan- 
cakes. Finally,  to-day  with  the  better-built  boat  just 
described,  and  my  present  quarters,  I  seem  to  have 
reached  quite  a  high  plane  of  intelligence.  Nothing  is 
wanting  to  complete  my  happiness  save  meat,  white 
bread,  and  ale.  But  I  shall  have  to  continue  my  advance 
in  civilization  still  further  in  order  to  reach  that  sublime 
development. 

At  Arjepluog,  soon  after  my  arrival,  all  the  neighbors 
came  in  to  see  me.  They  so  crowded  about  me  as  to 
hamper  my  movements.  Waking  or  sleeping  I  could 
get  no  peace.  Yet  in  general  appearance  I  was  little 
different  from  themselves,  not  having  the  color  or  garb 
of  a  Feejee  Islander.  Had  I  possessed  such  a  color,  or 
worn  such  a  garb,  there  might  have  been  some  excuse 
for  their  impertinences.     Never,  since  my  travels  in  the 


AMONG    THE  HAPPY  INNOCENTS,  iSl 

interior  of  China,  have  I  been  so  much  annoyed  in  this 
respect  as  in  the  rural  districts  of  Sweden. 

At  the  townlet  of  Afvavik  I  exchange  the  boat  for 
the  road.  Now  at  last  I  leave  behind  me  the  snow- 
covered  mountains.  It  is  the  first  time  for  nearly  a 
month  of  travel  they  have  not  been  continually  in  sight 
in  one  direction  or  another.  The  change  from  land- 
scapes of  rough  rocky  cliffs,  snow  and  glaciers,  to  scenes 
smiling  with  smooth  green  hills  and  velvety  meadows,  is 
most  pleasing.  I  go  on  toward  the  coast  with  a  horse 
and  cart.  The  horses  are  larger  than  those  used  in 
Norway  and  the  carts — what  shall  I  say  of  them  ?  Simply 
that  if  the  most  brilliant  constructive  mind  had  ample 
time  to  consider  the  matter,  I  seriously  doubt  whether  a 
more  uncomfortable  vehicle  could  be  devised.  It  was 
merely  a  long  box  placed,  without  springs,  upon  an  axle- 
tree,  and  at  such  an  angle  as  to  require  all  the  strength 
of  one  hand  to  prevent  one  from  either  slipping  out 
backwards  or  bolting  forwards  on  the  horse.  It  was 
filled  with  hay,  and  the  only  comfortable  position  I 
could  find  was  upon  my  knees ;  but  only  fancy  riding 
upon  your  knees  for  half  a  day  !  It  is  a  revival  of  the 
tortures  of  the  Inquisition.  We  progressed  very  slowly, 
for  the  jolting  was  excessively  disagreeable,  and  I  almost 
began  to  despair  of  getting  to  the  next  station  when  we 
met  a  farmer  riding  in  the  opposite  direction.  Him  my 
postilion  prevailed  upon  to  turn  about  and  take  up 
myself  and  luggage.  There  were  some  springs  in  his 
vehicle,  but  the  jolting  and  swinging  were  unbearable, 
and  the  rustic  drove  at  a  breakneck  pace  over  a  deeply- 


182  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

rutted  road.  We  reached  Avidjaur  at  midnight,  in  a 
half  frozen  condition.  The  weather  was  very  much 
colder  than  I  had  found  it  in  the  same  parallel  in 
Norway. 

There  is  a  quaint  old  church  at  Avidjaur  and  a 
large  number  of  the  church-going  people's  stables. 
Riding  through  a  long  street  of  these,  with  every  door 
and  window  closed,  and  recognizing  neither  a  person 
nor  a  sound,  makes  upon  one  a  peculiar  impression. 
It  is  like  traversing  Pompeii.  The  distance  travelled 
this  day  was  about  sixty  English  miles.  I  found  a 
good  large  hotel,  and  after  a  short  nap  started  on  in  a 
sort  of  two-wheeled  gig,  with  very  small  and  useless 
springs.  The  road  wound  through  great  forests  of 
pine,  fir  and  birch.  Several  farm-houses  were  generally 
found  at  the  stations,  and  all  the  people,  both  men  and 
women,  were  in  the  fields  harvesting  oats  and  barley,  or 
mowing  the  grass.  Some  of  the  out-buildings,  which 
are  raised  from  the  ground,  are  like  the  grain-cribs  seen 
in  our  New  England  States,  and  this  resemblance  is  in- 
creased by  the  long  sweep-poles  which  are  also  em- 
ployed here  in  drawing  water  from  the  wells.  Swedish 
farmers  have  a  very  ingenious  and  admirable  method  of 
stacking  their  grain  in  small  bundles  about  a  pole,  that 
it  may  be  kept  from  the  ground.  A  single  roll  forms  a 
roof  which  protects  the  rest  from  the  rain  by  the  dex- 
terous manner  in  which  it  is  arranged. 

The  Swedish  post-stations  are  large,  with  well  fur- 
nished rooms,  and  a  fairly  good  table.  The  sitting- 
room  is  heated,  a  few  moments  after  your  arrival,  by 


AMONG    THE  HAPPY  INNOCENTS.  I  S3 

huge  piles  of  dry  pine  logs.  In  most  of  these  houses 
you  will  find  a  few  books.  These  are  generally  of  a  reli- 
gious character,  bibles,  psalm-books,  catechisms,  and 
histories  of  the  prophets.  It  is  just  the  same  among 
the  farmers  of  Iceland.  The  pictures  with  which  the 
walls  are  decorated  are  also  of  a  religious  character,  and 
are  usually  executed  in  most  glaring  colors.  These  sta- 
tions are  much  larger  and  more  comfortable  than  those 
in  Norway,  though,  as  at  the  former,  one  is  occasionally 
subjected  to  a  great  loss  of  time  through  having  to  wait 
for  horses  which  may  be  far  distant  in  the  pastures. 
Another  nuisance  is  this  :  during  harvest  time  the  men 
and  women  are  accustomed  to  go  far  off  into  the  fields 
early  in  the  morning,  whence  they  do  not  return  until 
night.  At  this  period  you  will  find  the  whole  village 
deserted,  save  for  the  presence  of  a  few  very  old  per- 
sons who  would  be  useless  in  the  field,  and  of  a  few 
houses  occupied  by  children,  who,  for  safety's  sake, 
have  been  locked  in  by  their  parents.  The  children's 
safety,  however,  is  somewhat  equivocal,  since  many  of 
them  must  be  too  young  to  take  proper  care  of  them- 
selves. Then  if  possible  you  must  secure  the  services 
of  a  child  who  can  understand  that  you  desire  food 
and  shelter  and  send  it  to  find  one  of  the  field-workers, 
who  will  return  and  supply  the  needed  hospitality. 
This  is  a  matter  perhaps  of  an  hour,  more  likely  of 
several. 

The  day  before  I  reached  the  coast  I  had  to  wait 
two  hours  for  a  man,  who  then  informed  me  there 
were  no  horses  at  that  station.     He  assured  me,  how- 


1 84  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

ever,  that  they  would  be  found  at  the  next  post-house, 
and  so  not  wishing  to  be  needlessly  delayed  by  waiting 
for  horses  that  might  never  be  forthcoming,  I  decided 
to  walk  on  to  this  station,  a  distance  of  about  fourteen 
miles,  engaging  a  boy  and  a  girl  as  porters.  The  road 
led  up  hill  all  the  way.  We  crossed  by  ferry  a  small 
river  flowing  down  to  the  gulf.  The  station  seemed  to 
~be  upon  the  crest  of  the  hills,  for  I  had  therefrom  a 
fine  view  of  the  fir  forests  and  low  hills  upon  one  side, 
and  upon  the  other  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  and  its  hazy 
shores  a  hundred  miles  away.  As  my  ill-starred  fate 
would  have  it,  they  had  no  horses  here,  and  also  in- 
formed me  I  would  find  none  at  the  next  station,  and 
the  following  being  the  last  one  before  Pitea  is  reached, 
I  began  to  make  up  my  mind  to  pass  a  few  days  in 
the  health-giving  but  dull  and  dreary  fir-woods.  A 
visit  to  the  neighboring  stables,  however,  filled  me  with 
sudden  hope,  for  there  I  found  a  teamster  who  was 
going  my  way  with  a  load  of  tar.  Him  I  engage  to 
take  me  on  in  his  old  rickety  wagon,  the  fore-wheels 
of  which  are  connected  with  the  rear,  at  a  distance 
©f  about  twenty  feet,  by  two  long  timbers  upon  which 
the  tar  barrels  are  accustomed  to  rest.  Taking  my 
seat  upon  a  central  point  between  the  timbers,  we  start, 
but  at  such  a  labored  pace  that  I  have  to  take  the 
reins  from  my  jolly  wagoner,  and  thus  we  journey 
onward  down  gently  sloping  hills  to  the  coast.  The 
day  had  been  sufficiently  warm  to  burn  my  face  and 
neck  terribly,  but  an  hour  after  the  sun  went  down  the 
temperature  decreased  so  rapidly  that  I  had  to  descend 


AMONG    THE  HAPPY  INNOCENTS.  185 

from  the  tar  truck  several  times  and  run  swiftly  to 
start  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  By  midnight  it  had 
become  so  cold  I  thought  that  my  nose  and  ears  would 
surely  get  frozen,  and  this  almost  m  midsummer. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  reach — Heaven  be 
praised  ! — the  town  of  Rocknas,  situated  upon  the  Pitea 
River,  which  here  opens  into  a  great  estuary,  across 
which  I  must  sail  in  order  to  reach  Pitea.  The  preced- 
ing day's  work  had  been  very  fair — a  walk  of  fourteen 
miles  in  the  broiling  sun  and  a  ride  of  about  sixty  miles 
in  springless  carts,  over  a  stony  road.  However,  I 
found  the  station  very  comfortable,  and,  as  usual,  was 
the  only  guest.  Rocknas  is  a  long  straggling  town, 
lying  in  the  midst  of  a  great  flat  valley,  with  much  cul- 
tivated ground  thereabouts.  In  the  fields  the  women 
were  engaged  in  harvesting  the  barley-corn,  using  their 
hands  and  sickles  in  the  same  primitive  fashion  that 
was  in  vogue  in  the  days  of  the  biblical  Ruth  and 
Naomi. 

Later  in  the  morning  I  succeeded  in  getting  a  boat 
in  which  I  sailed  over  the  river  and  bay,  in  a  couple  of 
hours,  to  the  town  of  Pitea.  I  passed  several  huge 
saw-mills,  with  planks  piled  up  about  them,  and  sur- 
rounded by  acres  upon  acres  of  timber.  Rough  timber 
and  sawn  planks,  together  with  tar,  are  very  largely 
exported  from  Pitea.  Sometimes  as  many  as  fifty 
vessels  may  be  seen  here  engaged  in  loading  these 
commercial  products  for  transportation  to  foreign  coun- 
tries. Pitea  is  a  very  compactly  built  little  town  of 
about  2,000  inhabitants.     The  streets  are  narrow  but 


1 86  NOPSA',  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

regular  and  in  good  condition.  The  houses  are  almost 
all  made  of  logs  and  painted  red  ;  they  are  usually  one 
and  a  half  stories  in  height,  with  shingle  roofs.  None 
of  the  dwellings  have  doors  upon  the  street,  you  must 
seek  an  entrance  in  the  rear. 

I  was  much  amused  by  the  general  style  of  the  hotel 
here,  in  the  latitude  of  Iceland  and  consequently  near 
the  Arctic  Circle.  At  the  back,  where  the  entrance  is, 
are  summer-houses  and  tents,  gravel  walks  and  flowers. 
The  hotel  is  provided  with  a  bar-room,  a  smoking-room 
and  several  parlors,  the  latter  being  without  carpets. 
The  dining-room  is  filled  with  small  round  tables. 
Upon  the  sideboard  is  placed  what  is  called  the  Smor- 
gos-Brod,  that  is,  the  cold  dishes  with  which  both  Nor- 
wegians and  Swedes  are  accustomed  to  begin  their  meals, 
adding  thereto  one  or  more  small  glasses  of  brandy. 
Strangers  are  apt  to  mistake  these  gelid  viands  for  the 
entire  repast,  as  the  people  eat  so  heartily  of  them, 
and  one  sees  nothing  else  upon  the  table.  They  are 
intended,  however,  for  mere  relishes,  like  the  French 
hors  d'cem'res,  and  are  believed  to  increase  the  appe- 
tite, though,  as  a  general  rule,  to  eat  seems  a  clever 
way  of  destroying  it.  There  stood  also  upon  the  side- 
board a  large  metallic  urn,  from  the  three  faucets  of 
which  you  might  draw  Pomerans,  Fahlu,  or  Renadt, 
whichever  you  preferred.  They  are  similar,  however, 
being  merely  strong  spirit  with  an  aromatic  flavor 
which  makes  them  analogous  to  the  French  liqueurs. 
The  Swedes,  as  well  as  the  Norwegians,  before  sitting 
down  to  a  meal  linger  at    this   sideboard,  help   them- 


AMONG    THE  HAPPY  INNOCENTS.  1 87 

selves  to  a  wine-glass  of  spirit  and  eat  voraciously  of 
each  of  the  little  dishes  spread  about.  This  Pitea  inn 
had  a  "  Win  Lista  "  which  would  compare  favorably 
with  those  of  many  hotels  in  the  central  cities  of 
Europe.  But  with  almost  all  classes,  as  also  among 
the  Norwegians,  manners  are  much  "  below  par."  The 
people  rise  from  the  table,  run  to  the  sideboard,  take  a 
morsel  with  their  fingers  or  anybody's  fork,  at  random, 
and  return  to  their  seats,  eating  as  if  shipwrecked  at 
sea.  Napkins  did  not  seem  to  have  any  particular 
owner,  being  used  by  any  and  all  until  they  were  in  a 
frightful  condition.  Seldom  had  I  such  difficulty  in 
making  myself  understood  as  when,  having  received 
one  of  last  season's  napkins,  I  endeavored  to  obtain  a 
clean  one  from  the  waiters.  But  perhaps  I  should  not 
be  so  censoriously  critical  in  view  of  the  fact  that  these 
people  are  loyal  subjects  of  one  who  is  called  King  of 
the  Goths  and  Vandals. 

Sitting  in  a  chair  and  not  on  a  three-legged  stool,  at 
a  leather-covered  table  and  not  a  plank  laid  upon  saw- 
horses,  I  congratulate  myself  on  the  successful  comple- 
tion of  my  journey  across  the  great  Scandinavian  pen- 
insula with  no  worse  result  than  a  very  sore  mouth,  pro- 
duced by  the  daily  task  of  masticating  the  adamantine 
barley-biscuits  of  the  peasantry.  The  terrible  fore- 
warnings  to  which  I  had  been  treated  in  Norway  were 
all  dissipated,  and  I  had  arrived  with  a  whole  though 
a  sun-scorched  skin.  It  was  a  journey  of  about  350 
miles,  performed  by  steamer,  by  cart,  on  horseback,  on 
foot,  and  in  row  and  sail-boats.     I  had  accomplished 


1 88  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

it  in  ten  days.  My  route  led  me  across  bays,  over 
mountains,  along  lakes,  and  down  hills,  to  the  coast.  I 
had  seen  the  interior  of  Sweden  and  visited  the  peas- 
ants in  their  homes.  My  impressions  of  both  are 
already  recorded,  and  I  have  only  to  add  that  this  part 
of  Scandinavia  cannot  as  yet  be  evidenced  in  support 
of  the  correctness  of  the  development  theory.  To  per- 
petrate an  hibernicism,  evolution  here  has  not  evoluted. 
The  peasants  of  the  north  are  still  lamentably  lacking 
in  enterprise,  industry,  thrift,  a  proper  education,  and 
an  honest  ambition. 

The  sights  of  Pitea  were  soon  exhausted  and  I  em- 
braced the  first  opportunity  offered  of  taking  passage 
in  a  little  steamer  bound  to  the  south,  and  which 
reached  the  town  of  Gefle  about  two  days  later. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

An  Excursion  to  the  Copper  and  Iron  Mines. 

The  most  noteworthy  mines  of  Sweden  are  those  of 
copper,  in  the  province  of  Dalecarlia ;  and  those  of 
iron,  in  the  province  of  Uhland.  The  former  are  situ- 
ated at  Falun,  a  town  about  seventy-five  miles  due  west 
from  Gefle  ;  and  the  latter  are  near  the  main  line  of 
rail  which  runs  southerly  to  Upsala,  about  midway  be- 
tween that  ancient  town  and  Gefle,  at  Dannemora  and 
Soderby.  The  iron  mines  are  a  considerable  source  of 
wealth  to  Sweden,  though  the  supervision  which  the 
government,  through  the  college  of  mines,  exercises 
over  this  industry,  is  detrimental  to  its  highest  develop- 
ment. It  seems  that  all  mining  operations  are  con- 
ducted under  licenses  which  specify  the  exact  amount 
of  metal  that  may  be  manufactured.  Heavy  penalties 
follow  any  infringement.  This  restriction  is  intended 
to  prevent  a  great  destruction  of  the  forests,  since  about 
all  the  ore  is  smelted  by  charcoal.  Nevertheless  min- 
ing operations  are  making  steady  progress.  The  pro- 
duce of  the  iron  works  is  cast  iron,  bar  iron  and  cent- 
ner rails.  Much  of  the  steel  is  manufactured  by  the 
Bessemer  process.  In  fact,  Sweden  now  annually 
makes  more  of  this  steel  than  Great  Britain.     The  Bes- 


I90  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

seraer  process  is  said  to  be  as  great  an  improvement  on 
the  older  methods  of  making  steel  as  steel  itself  is  an 
improvement  on  iron.  In  a  recent  experimental  trial, 
a  Bessemer  steel  rail  lasted  longer  than  twenty  iron 
ones  ! 

Gefle  is  pleasantly  situated  at  the  head  of  a  bay  of 
like  name.     It  is  a  pretty  town  of  nearly  15,000  inhabi- 
tants, which  rates  it  as  the  largest  one  north  of  Stock- 
holm.    It  does  considerable  business  in  ship-building, 
and  in  exporting  timber,  ore,  and  manufactured  iron  and 
steel.     The  only  two  sights  of  which  I  could  hear  were 
a  church  and  a  jail.    From  this  I  inferred  that  the  good 
and  bad  elements  in  the  population  must  be  equally 
mingled.      Two  express  trains  leave  daily   for  Falun. 
At  a  station  called  Sandviken   there   is    a   large   iron 
foundry  where  work  of  a  most  gigantic  character  is  car- 
ried on.     A  steam-hammer,  weighing  sixteen  tons,  de- 
scends upon  an  anvil  of  twenty-one  tons,  and  forges  iron 
plates  of  fifty-five  tons  in  weight  !     Steel  guns  fifty-one 
tons  in  weight  have  also  been  cast  here.     The  railway 
traverses  a  region  of  forests  and  lakes  ;  there  does  not 
seem  to  be  much  cultivated  land.     In  about  four  hours 
from  the  time  of  leaving  Gefle,  Falun  is  reached.      I 
could  have  known  I  was  in  a  mining  centre  from  the 
lack  of  vegetation  about  the  town,  the  dirty  appearance 
of  the  houses,  and  the  copper  roof  of  a  church  covered 
with  verdigris,  for  I  had  seen  the  same  effects  produced 
in  Colorado  towns  by  the  fumes  of  copper  smelt-works. 
The  longevity  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  is  said  to  be 
remarkable,  and  pestilential  diseases  are  unknown  in  the 


THE    COPTER  AND  IRON  MINES.  IQI 

annals  of  the  province.  Falun  has  only  6,000  inhabi- 
tants, most  of  whom  are  either  government  officials  or 
miners.  The  school  connected  with  the  mines,  contain- 
ing an  extensive  technical  library  and  a  mineralogical 
and  geological  cabinet,  is  worthy  of  a  visit. 

The  district  in  which  Falun  is  situated  goes  by  the 
name  of  the  "  great  copper  mountain."  The  mass  of 
ore — copper  pyrites  and  iron — lies  in  the  form  of  an 
inverted  cone.  The  rock  formation  round  about  is  a 
reddish  colored  granite.  These  mines  have  a  historical 
existence  of  a  thousand  years,  and  antiquarians  believe 
they  have  been  worked  even  as  early  as  two  thousand 
years  ago.  In  order  to  inspect  the  mines  and  machinery, 
it  is  necessary  to  apply  at  the  Mining  Office,  where  a 
guide  and  torches  are  provided.  One  can  also  obtain 
there  an  overcoat  and  other  suitable  clothes  for  such 
work.  The  mountain  is  everywhere  honeycombed  by 
tunnels,  drifts,  and  inclines.  One  sees  a  yawning  crater 
with  numerous  galleries  branching  off  to  the  workings 
in  the  interior.  This  enormous  pit  was  produced  about 
a  century  ago  by  the  falling  in  of  a  mass  in  consequence 
of  the  unskilful  manner  of  mining.  Even  now  some 
of  the  excavations  are  in  a  dilapidated  and  dangerous 
condition.  The  external  aperture  is  three  hundred  feet 
in  depth.  We  descend  by  easily  sloping,  though  slippery 
stairs,  and  find  ourselves  in  a  huge  chamber,  which  must 
be  at  least  one  thousand  feet  square.  From  this  open 
other  and  smaller  rooms.  In  one  of  these  a  grand 
dinner  is  said  to  have  once  been  given  to  Carl  Johan 
(Bernadotte),  his  queen,  and  the  Crown  Prince  Oscar. 


I92  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

On  this  occasion  the  mines  were  brilliantly  illuminated. 
In  several  places  I  noticed  carved  in  the  rocks,  and 
covered  with  glass  cases,  the  names  of  royal  visitors  who 
had  been  my  predecessors  in  the  exploration  of  the 
mine. 

A  further  descent  of  seven  hundred  feet  is  made  by 
perpendicularly-hanging  iron  ladders.    This  is  the  lowest 
depth  yet  reached.     The  ventilation  throughout  is  ex- 
cellent.    The  machinery  for  pumping  and  for  hoisting 
the  ore,  as  well  as  that  for  smelting  it  at  the  surface,  is 
admirable.     Accidents  to  the  mine  or  miners  are  now- 
adays of  rare  occurrence,  but  in  times  gone-by  the  care- 
less mode  of  working  often  resulted  fatally.     A  curious 
instance  is  that  of  a  young  man  who  was  lost  in  1670, 
and  whose  body  was  not  recovered  till  forty-nine  years 
afterwards.     It  was  then  identified  by  his  former  sweet- 
heart, who  had  of  course  become  an  old  woman.     On 
being  exposed  to  the  air  the  body  grew  as  hard  as  stone. 
In  this  state  it  was  preserved  under  a  glass  case,  but 
gradually  fell  to  pieces,  and  had  to  be  buried  in  1740. 
In  the  time  of  their  greatest  prosperity,  five  hundred 
years  ago,  these  mines  were  producing  at  the  rate  of  five 
thousand  tons  of  copper  annually,  but  since  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  yield  has  been  gradually  falling  off, 
until  now  it  does  not  exceed  four  hundred  tons  per 
annum.     In  fact,  these  once  famous  and  prolific  mines 
are  rapidly  becoming  exhausted. 

Dalecarlia  chiefly  consists  of  two  great  river  basins, 
the  population  of  which  is  about  175,000.  These  peo- 
ple retain  more  of  their  ancient  simplicity  of  manners, 


THE   COPPER  AND  IRON  MINES.  I93 

dress,  and  mode  of  living,  than  those  of  any  other  part 
of  Sweden.  They  also  speak  a  language  not  under- 
stood in  the  adjacent  provinces,  which  is  said  to  re- 
semble somewhat  the  Gaelic.  These  peculiarities^ 
doubtless  arise  from  their  isolated  position,  as  well  as 
from  the  fact  of  their  thinking  themselves  a  superior 
race  to  their  more  lowland  neighbors  in  the  south.  It 
is  from  this  district  that  the  industrious  peasants  mi- 
grate in  considerable  numbers  to  Stockholm  during  the 
summer  months.  Their  ingenuity  is  equal  to  their 
industry,  for  they  are  extensive  manufacturers  of  bas- 
ket-work, tools,  clocks,  and  watches.  In  traversing 
this  district  of  Sweden  one  falls  in  with  many  places 
memorable  in  the  eventful  life  of  the  great  liberator, 
Gustavus  Vasa.  Here  is  the  cradle  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty,  for  here  rose  Engelbrecht  with  his 
brother  miners  and  swept  the  oppressors  out  of  the 
country  ;  here  the  Stures  found  their  chief  support 
in  struggling  with  the  unionists  ;  and  here  finally,  after 
many  wanderings,  disguises  and  hair-breadth  escapes, 
Gustavus  began  to  carry  out  his  great  plan  for  the 
vindication  of  Swedish  independence.  Mementoes  of 
this  hero  are  scattered  all  over  Dalecarlia. 

Having  retraced  my  track  to  Gefle,  I  next  go  by 
rail  on  a  southeasterly  tangent  to  the  town  of  Danne- 
mora.  In  passing  a  deep  gulch,  upon  a  trestle-bridge 
five  hundred  feet  long,  I  distinctly  hear  the  roar  of  the 
Elfkarley  cataracts,  which  are  second  only  in  point 
of  magnitude  to  those  of  Trollhattan,  having  with  a 
breadth  of  two  hundred  and  fifty,  a  fall  of  fifty  feet. 


194  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN 

Afterwards  we  cross  the  Dal  River  upon  a  stone  bridge 
with  six  great  arches.  Then  we  glide  on  through  a 
very  beautiful  country  until  we  arrive  at  a  "junction," 
whence  a  branch  line,  five  miles  in  length,  takes  us 
to  the  Dannemora  iron  mines.  As  I  have  said,  these 
are  the  most  productive  in  Sweden,  the  ore  yielding 
often  as  much  as  seventy  per  cent,  of  iron.  The  metal 
produced  from  this  ore  is  largely  used  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  steel,  which  is  generally  regarded  as  the  best  in 
Europe.  Singularly  enough  these  mines  are  not  situa- 
ted in  a  mountainous  or  even  a  hilly  district ;  but  in  a 
marshy  plain  some  thirty  feet  lower  in  level  than  the 
neighboring  lake  of  Dannemora,  whose  waters,  in  truth, 
are  only  prevented  from  flooding  the  mines  by  huge 
dams  of  hewn  granite. 

The  best  time  of  day  to  visit  these,  as  indeed  most 
other  mines,  is  at  noon  or  whenever  the  charges  are 
likely  to  be  fired.  There  are  several  mines  clustered 
together  in  this  district.  At  Osterby,  about  a  mile 
from  Dannemora,  the  ore  is  smelted  and  otherwise 
prepared  for  exportation.  The  mine  usually  visited 
is  at  Soderby.  The  entrance  to  it  is,  however,  rather 
dangerous.  There  is  an  excavation,  perhaps  five  hun- 
dred feet  square,  and  at  least  as  deep,  upon  the  brink 
of  whose  precipitous  walls  are  small  platforms  project- 
ing far  enough  over  to  hold  cranes  which  draw  up  and 
down  baskets  containing  the  miners  and  the  ore.  The 
ropes  used  are  of  steel  wire  and  the  necessary  machin- 
ery is  worked  by  horses.  If  you  do  not  like  this 
method  of  descent,  a  succession  of  many  vertical  lad- 


THE    COPPER  AND  IRON  MINES.  195 

ders  may  be  used.  Arrived  at  the  bottom,  the  guide 
leads  the  way  through  several  galleries  to  the  scene  of 
the  active  excavations.  The  ore,  which  is  obtained  by 
blasting,  rarely  yields  less  than  forty  per  cent  of  iron, 
and  often  the  percentage  reaches,  as  above  remarked, 
seventy  out  of  the  hundred. 

The  production  of  this  the  most  important  of  min- 
erals, would  be  much  greater  if  more  fuel  were  availa- 
ble. For  the  superiority  of  the  Swedish  iron  does  not 
arise  solely  from  the  purity  of  the  ore,  but  in  conse- 
quence of  its  being  smelted  with  charcoal.  Notwith- 
standing the  limitation  of  the  government,  the  forests 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mines  are  nearly  exhausted. 
Sweden  possesses  some  veins  of  coal,  but  it  is  of  infe- 
rior quality  and  occurs  in  quantities  too  small  to  pay 
the  expense  of  working.  Some  better  coal  is  said,  how- 
ever, to  have  been  recently  discovered.  There  is  con- 
siderable peat  in  the  country  and  this  of  late  is  being 
much  used  for  smelting  purposes. 

Mining  must  nevertheless  be  considered  as  the  most 
important  department  of  Swedish  industry,  for  iron  is 
the  leading  commercial  product  of  the  country.  The 
working  of  the  mines  is  making  constant  progress 
through  the  introduction  of  new  machinery.  There 
are  reported  to  be  nearly  five  hundred  mines  now  open 
in  Sweden.  Among  them  is  the  silver  mine  at  Sala 
and  the  zinc  mine  near  Askersund.  A  mountain  in 
Swedish  Lapland  named  Gellivara  (Lat.  67.20  N.)  about 
2,000  feet  in  height,  is  said  to  be  one  perfect  mass  of 
the  richest  iron  ore,  but  its  situation  in  an  almost  unin- 


196  NOKSA',  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

habitable  country,  far  from  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  renders 
it  useless.  This  then  is  a  powerless  rival  of  the  im- 
mense bodies  of  almost  solid  ore  found  in  Shepherd 
Mountain,  Pilot  Knob,  and  Iron  Mountain,  in  our  own 
"  Iron  State  "  of  Missouri. 

A  few  statistics  in  regard  to  Sweden's  chief  mineral, 
industries,  and  I  must  continue  my  route  south  to  Up- 
sala  and  Stockholm.  In  1877  there  were  raised  nearly 
375,000  tons  of  iron  ore  ;  900  tons  of  copper  ;  50,000 
tons  of  zinc  ore  ;  and  one  ton  of  silver  ore.  The  pig 
iron  produced  in  the  same  year  amounted  to  4,000 
tons ;  the  cast  goods  to  300  tons  ;  the  bar  iron  to 
2,500  tons ;  and  the  steel  to  750  tons. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Upsala  and  Linnaeus. 

Returning  to  Orbyhus,  the  junction  station,  I 
again  take  the  rail  southerly  across  a  great  plain  with, 
at  intervals,  highly  picturesque  scenery,  towards  Upsala. 
I  had  decided,  however,  to  stop  a  few  hours  at  a  little 
village  called  Old  Upsala,  about  three  miles  north  of 
the  large  town.  This  neighborhood  is  of  the  greatest 
antiquarian  interest,  both  historically  and  topographi- 
cally. There  are  three  huge  tumuli  or  barrows  in 
which  tradition  avers  that  the  Scandinavian  divinities 
Odin,  Thor  and  Frey  lie  buried.  They  correspond 
strikingly  in  appearance  with  giant  graves  I  have  seen 
upon  the  plains  of  Western  Asia  Minor.  One  of  the 
Swedish  mounds,  supposed  to  date  from  the  bronze  age, 
is  64  feet  in  height  and  232  feet  in  diameter.  This 
certainly  seems  a  huge  knoll,  but  the  work  of  the 
ancient  Scandinavians  could  not  compare  with  that  of 
the  Toltecs  or  Mound-builders  of  North  America. 
Witness  the  great  truncated  pyramid  at  Cahokia,  Illi- 
nois, which  is  700  feet  long,  500  wide,  and  90  in  height  ! 
The  mound  at  Old  Upsala,  whose  dimensions  I  have 
just  given,  was  cut  through  in  1874  to  allow  the  Uni- 
versal   Ethnographical   Congress,   then    assembled    at 


I98  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

Upsala,  to  examine  its  interior.  Fragments  of  a  skele- 
ton and  a  few  ornaments  alone  were  found.  These  I 
afterwards  saw  in  the  national  museum  at  Stockholm. 
From  the  top  of  a  neighboring  barrow  hundreds  of 
lesser  dimensions  can  be  seen  for  miles  around.  Olaus 
Rudbeck,  the  eminent  Swedish  physician  and  philoso- 
pher— who  wrote  a  whimsical  but  learned  work,  locating 
Paradise  in  Sweden,  and  assigning  that  country  as  the 
common  parent  of  the  German,  English,  Danish,  and 
even  Greek  and  Roman  nations — relates  that  within  the 
circle  of  one  mile  from  Old  Upsala,  he  counted  as  many 
as  12,370  of  these  singular  tumuli.  Our  own  State  of 
Ohio  furnishes  a  favorable  comparison  in  this  respect, 
since  it  contains  not  less  than  io,oqo  mounds  similar  to 
those  of  Sweden. 

A  late  writer  tells  us  that  "  it  was  here,  after  the 
dynasty  and  worship  of  Odin  were  firmly  established  in 
the  country,  that  the  national  temple  was  erected,  and 
the  great  sacrifices  annually  made.  Here,  likewise, 
justice  was  permanently  administered  by  the  kings,  and 
the  tings,  or  great  assemblies  of  the  people  were  held.  A 
sacred  wood  then  surrounded  the  temple,  and  sacrifices 
of  every  description  were  made  to  propitiate  the  deities 
worshipped  there,  human  blood  being  the  most  accepta- 
ble to  them.  On  some  occasions  parents  even  immolated 
their  children.  An  account  exists  of  seventy-two  bodies 
of  men  and  animals  having  been  seen  at  the  same  time 
suspended  from  the  trees  of  this  sacred  wood.  The 
temple  was  resplendent  with  gold,  and  the  interior 
decorated  with  the  statues  of  Odin,   Thor,  and  Frey 


UPS  A  LA    AND   LINNMUS.  1 99 

Even  after  the  lapse  of  ten  centuries,  the  name  of  Odin 
still  lingers  among  the  peasantry,  though  now  only  as  a 
demon,  and  as  such  often  used  for  that  of  the  devil. 
Thus,  '  go  to  Odin,'  is  in  common  use,  and  in  some  dis- 
tricts the  country  people  still  leave  a  bundle  of  hay  for 
Odin's  horses."  The  word  Upsala  signifies  the  "  lofty 
halls,"  doubtless  referring  to  this  great  pagan  sanctuary. 
And  a  little  granite  church  in  the  village  is  so  old  that 
it  is  conjectured  that  part  of  its  walls  may  even  have 
belonged  to  the  still  older  temple.  It  certainly  far  ante- 
dates the  Christian  era. 

Upsala  was  anciently  the  metropolis  of  Sweden,  and 
is  now  its  ecclesiastical  capital,  being  the  residence  of 
the  archbishop,  the  primate  of  the  country.  Formerly 
the  kings  of  Sweden  were  crowned  in  its  great  cathedral. 
Thus  Upsala  is  to  Stockholm  what  Trondjhem  is  to 
Christiania.  It  is  a  pretty  town  of  wooden  houses,  and 
contains  about  14,000  inhabitants.  Its  attractions  to  the 
traveller  are  the  Domkyrka;  the  University,  with  its 
library  of  200,000  volumes ;  and  the  associations  and 
neighboring  house  of  the  great  botanist  Linnseus.  The 
cathedral  is  much  grander  and  more  magnificent  than 
that  in  Trondjhem,  which  was  completed  twelve  years 
before  work  on  the  Upsala  church  was  begun.  As  with 
that,  so  with  this:  many  restorations  have  taken  place, 
often  in  quite  a  different  order  of  architecture,  and 
generally  in  the  worst  possible  taste.  It  is  in  the  austere 
Gothic  style,  built  of  brick,  with  stone  portals.  Its  ex- 
terior length  is  370  feet,  its  breadth  140,  its  height  105 
feet.    The  nave  and  choir  are  supported  by  twenty-four 


200  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

columns.  The  chancel  contains  some  fine  specimens  of 
stained  glass.  In  separate  side  chapels  are  the  tombs 
of  Linnseus — a  mural  tablet  of  red  porphyry,  with  a 
bronze  medallion  portrait ;  and  of  Gustavus  Vasa  and  his 
two  queens — three  marble  recumbent  figures,  flanked  by 
obelisks  at  the  corners. 

The  University  of  Upsala,  founded  about  four  hun- 
dred years  ago,  is  the  chief  institution  of  the  kind  in 
Sweden.  There  are  fifty  professors  in  its  faculty  and  it 
is  attended  by  upwards  of  a  thousand  students.  The 
latter  are  distinguished  by  their  white  caps  banded  with 
black  and  a  small  rosette  of  the  Swedish  national  colors 
in  front.  I  learn  that  no  one  in  this  country  can  enter 
either  of  the  "  three  learned  professions,"  (law,  physic, 
or  divinity)  without  having  taken  his  degree  at  Upsala 
or  at  Lund,  a  city  with  a  population  of  the  same  size  as 
that  of  Upsala,  situated  in  the  extreme  southern  part  of 
Sweden,  and  not  over  fifty  miles  distant  from  Copen- 
hagen. A  handsome  building  belonging  to  the  univer- 
sity of  Upsala  is  chiefly  occupied  by  a  library  of  200,000 
volumes  and  8,000  manuscripts,  some  of  the  latter  being 
very  rare  and  valuable.  Among  them  is  a  copy  of  the 
four  gospels  in  the  old  Gothic  language.  It  is  named 
the  Codex  Argenteus,  from  the  fact  of  its  being  written 
in  letters  of  silver  upon  purple  parchment.  It  contains 
188  folios.  It  was  made  by  Bishop  Ulphilas  over  a 
thousand  years  before  Gutenberg  was  born,  and  its 
preservation  for  so  long  a  period  seems  little  short  of 
marvellous.  Its  highest  value,  however,  consists  in  the 
fact   that  it  is  the  oldest  monument  of  the  Teutonic 


UPS  A  LA   AND  LINN  ALUS.  201 

tongue.  There  are  several  other  priceless  literary  treas- 
ures in  the  collection.  In  proof  of  this,  I  might  mention 
the  most  complete  copy  in  Europe  of  the  Holy  Book  of 
the  Druses  ;  an  old  Icelandic  Edda  ;  the  Journal  of 
Linnaeus  (who  was  the  professor  of  botany  at  this  uni- 
versity) ;  and  the  first  book  ever  printed  in  Sweden, 
Dialogus  Creaturarum  moralizatus,  1487. 

An  interesting  excursion  of  one  day  may  be  made, 
about  six  miles  south  of  Upsala,  to  what  are  styled  the 
Mora  Stones.  This  is  the  spot  where  in  olden  times 
the  kings  were  elected,  and  where  they  must  mount 
one  of  the  stones  to  show  themselves  and  receive  the 
homage  of  the  people  by  wafienbrak,  a  mighty  clashing 
of  swords  and  shields.  Each  king  added  to  the  circle 
a  smaller  stone — one  with  his  own  name  carved  upon 
it.  There  are  ten  of  these  rude  unhewn  stones  still 
standing.  They  are  a  little  like  those  in  England 
known  as  Stonehenge,  which  name,  by  the  way,  is  de- 
rived from  a  Saxon  word  meaning  hanging  or  uplifted 
stones.  Gustavus  III.  caused  these  interesting  relics 
to  be  enclosed  by  a  stone  building,  on  the  ceiling  of 
which  are  inscribed  the  various  elections  of  the  early 
kings. 

Not  far  from  the  Mora  Stones  stands  the  unpre- 
tending country-house  of  Hammarby,  which  was  the 
favorite  residence  of  Linnaeus — endearingly  styled  the 
"  Pliny  of  Sweden."  Here  he  lectured  to  a  numerous 
auditory  both  of  Swedes  and  foreigners  ;  and  here 
there  is  at  the  present  day  a  sort  of  Linnaean  museum, 
with  the  apartments  still  preserved  in  the  same  style  as 


202  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

when  occupied  by  the  great  naturalist,  his  doctor's  hat 
even,  remaining  on  the  table.  The  lecture-room  is  still 
here,  but  his  invaluable  collections  were  sold  to  Eng- 
land, to  the  great  mortification  of  Gustavus  III.,  who 
vainly  sent  a  frigate  in  pursuit  of  the  vessel  on  which 
they  had  been  shipped.  It  will  doubtless  be  remem- 
bered that  Linnaeus,  notwithstanding  his  acknowledged 
reputation  of  being  the  foremost  naturalist  of  his  time, 
was  excessively  vain,  but  the  following  illustrations  of 
that  peculiar  trait  may  possibly  be  new  to  the  reader. 

A  lady  of  the  province  of  Upsala  wishing  to  make 
his  acquaintance,  presented  herself  with  a  letter  of  in- 
troduction from  one  of  his  friends.  She  was  received 
with  much  politeness,  and  the  philosopher  showed  her 
his  museum.  Here  she  was  very  much  astonished  and 
delighted  at  what  she  saw,  exclaiming  with  a  sigh,  l'  I 
no  longer  wonder  that  Linnaeus  is  so  well  known  over 
the  whole  province  of  Upsala  !"  Whereat  Linnaeus, 
who,  instead  of  the  "  province  of  Upsala,"  expected  to 
hear  the  "  whole  universe,"  was  so  angry  that  he  would 
show  her  no  more  of  the  museum,  and  sent  her  away 
utterly  confounded  at  the  change  in  his  humor.  This 
great  philosopher  was  besides  so  enamored  of  praise  as 
to  be  wholly  incapable  of  distinguishing  true  commen- 
dation from  flattery  and  deception.  Another  person, 
knowing  his  weakness  and  caprice,  once  composed  a 
eulogy  for  him  in  the  most  florid  Asiatic  style,  calling 
him  the  sun  of  botanists,  the  Jupiter  of  the  literati,  the 
secretary  of  nature,  an  ocean  of  science,  a  moving 
mountain   of  erudition  and  other  appellations  to  the 


UPSALA    AND  LINN^US.  203 

same  effect.  Though  it  would  seem  as  if  the  weakest 
child  might  treat  this  as  a  farce,  Linnaeus,  far  from 
feeling  displeasure  at  such  bombastic  and  ridiculous 
compliments,  is  said  to  have  interrupted  the  panegyrist 
at  each  phrase,  embracing  him  and  calling  him  his 
dearest  friend. 

In  order  to  vary  as  much  as  possible  my  manner  of 
travel  I  decided  to  go  from  Upsala  to  Stockholm  by 
water,  down  the  ever-winding  arms  of  Lake  Malar. 
Steamers  leave  every  day  at  noon  for  the  capital.  De- 
scending the  little  Fyris  River,  which  seems  to  bisect 
the  town  of  Upsala,  we  soon  leave  behind  the  massive 
outlines  of  the  castle  and  cathedral,  and  enter  a  narrow 
fiord,  with  finely  cultivated  banks.  Next  we  pass  the 
chateau  or  palace  of  Skokloster,  where  live  the  lineal 
descendants  of  Tycho  Brahe.  It  forms  a  quadrangle 
three  stories  in  height,  with  graceful  octagonal  towers 
at  each  corner.  Placed  upon  high  ground  and  sur- 
rounded by  beautiful  gardens,  its  position  and  appear- 
ance are  commanding  and  engaging.  It  was  built  over 
two  hundred  years  ago  by  a  celebrated  Swedish  general 
named  Wrangel,  and  came  into  the  Brahe  family  by 
marriage  with  that  of  Wrangel.  On  a  signal  from  the 
steamer  a  boat  puts  off  from  the  castle  for  such  passen- 
gers as  may  wish  to  land.  The  temptation  was  great, 
but  I  could  not  afford  the  time  for  a  visit.  The  interior 
of  the  chateau  is  kindly  shown  to  travellers.  It  is 
packed  with  antiquities  and  curiosities,  has  an  armory 
of  great  value,  a  fine  gallery  of  paintings,  and  a  library 
of  30,000  volumes  and  rare  manuscripts. 


:04  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

We  stopped,  half  an  hour  later,  at  the  village  of 
Sigtuna,  which  was,  many  centuries  ago,  the  capital  of 
Sweden.  To-day  it  has  not  500  inhabitants,  though 
seven  hundred  years  ago  it  had  10,000.  In  the  yeai 
1 188  it  was  taken  and  destroyed  by  the  East-Baltic 
Vikings,  who  among  other  spoils  carried  off  a  pair  of 
church  doors  of  pure  silver,  which  it  is  said  may  yet  be 
seen  as  a  trophy  in  a  church  in  the  city  of  Novgorod 
I  may  add  that  in  my  subsequent  wanderings  through 
Russia  and  visit  to  that  old  cradle  of  its  history,  I  tool 
especial  pains  to  find  these  "  pure  silver  "  doors,  but 
without  success.  It  seems  that  the  founding  of  Stock- 
holm, so  much  better  a  position  for  a  metropolis,  caused 
the  ultimate  ruin  of  Sigtuna. 

As  we  steam  down  the  narrow  fiord  we  pass  the 
royal  palace  of  Rosenberg,  a  favorite  summer  residence 
of  Charles  XIII.,  and  Bernadotte.  The  scenery  there- 
abouts partakes  of  a  sylvan  character,  though  we  know 
from  the  large  number  of  water-craft  in  sight  that  we 
are  nearing  a  commercial  centre.  The  banks  are  be- 
coming covered  with  stately  palaces  and  charming 
country  residences.  The  fiord  seems  to  grow  even 
more  winding  ;  its  shores  at  least  are  more  irregular. 
There  are  a  great  number  of  lovely  islands.  On  the 
right  we  pass  the  palace  of  Drottningholm,  where  the 
present  king  and  royal  family  usually  spend  the  sum- 
mer. The  gardens,  laid  out  in  the  French  style,  are 
filled  with  statuary,  fountains,  canals  and  pavilions. 
Here  we  have  to  thread  a  raised  drawbridge  which  is 
part  of  the  roadway  leading  from  the  city  to  the  palace. 


UPSALA   AND  LINNAEUS.  20$ 

Half  an  hour  later,  or  seven  hours  in  all  from  Upsala, 
our  voyage  is  completed  and  we  are  moored  to  the  Rid- 
darsholmen  wharf  of  Stockholm,  near  the  sedate-look- 
ing Houses  of  Parliament  and  a  Gothic  church  spire 
which  looms  three  hundred  feet  above. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


STOCKHOLM. 


The  capital  of  Sweden  is  one  of  the  most  pictur- 
esque cities  in  Europe.  In  so  many  respects  does  its 
panorama  resemble  that  of  Venice  that  it  has  been 
whimsically  styled  the  Venice  of  the  North.  But  in 
Stockholm  one  misses  the  marble  palaces  and  lofty 
campaniles  of  Venice.  Besides,  the  amount  of  their 
respective  populations  differ  considerably  from  one 
another,  for  the  metropolis  of  the  Baltic  has  35,000 
more  citizens  than  the  "  Queen  of  the  Adriatic  " — or 
165,000  in  all.  If  it  be  desirable  to  preserve  the  imi- 
tative nomenclature  of  commonplace,  I  would  myself 
prefer  likening  this  city  to  Constantinople,  at  least  in 
respect  to  its  quaint  and  impressive  position.  How- 
ever, retaining  the  old  Italian  city  as  the  Venice  of  the 
South,  and  accepting  Stockholm  as  that  of  the  North,  it 
would  seem  as  though  two  of  the  cardinal  points  were 
represented  by  these  Venetian  variations.  Bangkok 
with  its  semi-aquatic  population,  and  its  countless 
canals  and  canoes,  has  long  since  been  named  the 
"  Venice  of  the  East ;  "  and  if  one  reflects  for  a  mo- 
ment, the  Mexico  of  the  Montezumas,  where  artificial 
islands,  reeking  with  floral  perfumes,  floated  in  broad 


STOCKHOLM.  207 

lagunes,  might  properly  be  accepted  as  having  filled 
the  place  of  the  Aztec  Venice  of  the  West.      Voila  tout ! 

Landing  from  the  steamer  and  entering  a  droschky 
I"  was  speedily  driven  along  the  harbor,  past  the  royal 
palace,  over  a  handsome  granite  bridge,  in  front  of  a 
statue  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  by  a  beautiful  little 
park,  and  at  length  was  deposited  at  the  Grand  Hotel. 
This  I  soon  discovered  to  be  one  of  the  best  hostelries 
in  Europe.  The  building  is  five  stories  in  height  and 
has,  I  am  told,  three  hundred  bedrooms.  It  seems  to 
unite  in  itself  the  excellencies  of  the  American  and 
English  systems.  Besides  ample  parlors,  dining  and 
reading  saloons,  there  are  bath,  barber,  smoking  and 
billiard  rooms,  a  cafe,  telegraph  and  livery  offices,  a 
steam-elevator,  etc. 

In  the  morning  I  sallied  forth  to  see  something  of 
the  city.  The  name  Stockholm  is  constituted  of — stock, 
a  pile,  and  holm,  an  islet,  from  the  fact  of  the  city's 
having  been  founded  on  a  little  island  in  the  centre  of 
the  outlet  of  Lake  Malar,  and  of  the  piles  having  been 
driven  down  across  the  channel  to  prevent  the  incursion 
of  the  piratical  Vikings.  Six  hundred  years  ago  the 
city  was  built  upon  three  small  islands,  which  still  con- 
tain the  royal  palace  and  many  of  the  finest  public  and 
private  buildings.  Though  the  greater  part  of  it  now 
lies  upon  the  mainland,  still  as  many  as  nine  islands  are 
more  or  less  covered  with  stores  and  dwellings.  Com- 
munication between  the  various  parts  of  the  city  is 
maintained  by  means  of  bridges  and  little  iron  steam- 
boats. 


208  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

The  streets  of  Stockholm,  though  often  narrow  and 
ill-paved,  are  for  the  most  part  laid  out  at  right  angles. 
There  are  a  great  number  of  small  parks  which  are 
tastefully  arranged  and  adorned  with  statues  of  Swedish 
heroes.  But  few  of  the  public  or  private  buildings, 
however,  are  either  imposing  or  beautiful.  The  king's 
palace,  an  edifice  somewhat  in  the  Italian  style,  attracts 
more  attention  than  any  other  building  from  its  enor- 
mous size,  its  massive  architecture,  and  its  prominent 
position  on  the  highest  point  of  the  central  island.  It 
is  built  of  brick  faced  with  sandstone,  in  a  quadrangle 
which  is  something  over  four  hundred  feet  on  a  side. 
The  royal  family  were  not  in  town  at  the  time  of  my 
visit,  and  hence  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  shown  over 
the  entire  palace.  This,  however,  was  a  rather  expen- 
sive tour,  for,  instead  of  having  one  guide  to  direct  me 
from  entrance  to  egress,  nearly  every  room  or  set  of 
rooms  had  a  different  custodian,  whose  "  itching  palm" 
naught  but  silver  could  heal.  This  palace,  which  was 
built  about  one  hundred  years  ago,  contains  516  rooms. 
The  Throne  Chamber  is  perhaps  the  handsomest  of 
these,  being  richly  decorated,  and  ornamented  with 
choice  sculptures  and  paintings.  It  is  150  feet  in  length 
by  50  feet  in  width.  In  immense  stables  near  at  hand 
are  kept  the  state-coaches,  and  over  a  hundred  horses, 
many  of  which  are  animals  of  extraordinary  beauty. 

The  churches  of  Stockholm  are  not  remarkable  or 
attractive  as  a  rule,  but  there  is  one,  the  Riddarsholm 
Kirke,  near  the  king's  palace,  which  deserves  a  visit 
from  the  fact  of  its  being  used  as  an  imperial  mausoleum. 


STOCKHOLM.  2CX) 

It  is  the  Westminster  Abbey  of  Sweden.  The  distance 
is  not  far  from  the  abode  of  the  royal  living  to  that  of 
the  royal  dead.  I  find  the  entire  floor  of  the  church 
covered  with  the  gravestones  of  illustrious  personages. 
To  the  right  of  the  altar  lie  the  remains  of  the  great 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  heroic  champion  of  the  Luther- 
ans. His  sarcophagus  is  of  green  marble,  and  is  envi 
roned  with  banners  and  trophies.  It  bears  a  Latin 
inscription  which  may  be  roughly  translated  as  follows  : 
"  He  braved  dangers,  loved  piety,  overcame  his  enemies, 
enlarged  his  dominions,  exalted  his  nation,  liberated  the 
oppressed,  and  triumphed  in  death."  In  a  chapel  nearly 
opposite  reposes  the  body  of  the  fiery  hero  Charles 
XII.,  in  a  sarcophagus  of  white  marble  covered  with  a 
gilded  lion's  skin,  on  which  are  placed  the  crown, 
sceptre,  and  sword.  In  the  sepulchral  chapel  of  the 
present  Swedish  dynasty  one  notices  especially  a  por- 
phyry sarcophagus,  copied  from  that  of  Agrippa  at 
Rome,  where  rest  the  ashes  of  Charles  XIV.  (Bernadotte). 
On  the  walls  of  the  choir  are  hung  the  shields  of  the 
deceased  knights  of  the  Royal  Order  of  the  Seraphim, 
the  highest  of  Swedish  decorations.  Among  them  I 
noticed  those  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  Napoleon 
III.  The  remainder  of  this  church  may  best  be  de- 
scribed as  a  museum  of  war  trophies — flags,  standards, 
drums,  and  weapons  of  every  kind.  Service  is  per- 
formed here  only  once  a  year. 

On  a  quay  nearly  opposite  the  royal  palace  stands 
the  National  Museum,  which  without  doubt  contains 
more  of  interest  to  the  stranger  than  all  the  other  pub- 


2IO  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

lie  buildings  of  Stockholm  combined.  Architecturally 
it  is  a  marble  and  granite  edifice,  three  stories  in  height 
and  of  fine  appearance.  The  facade  is  ornamented 
with  statues  and  medallions  in  marble  of  such  eminent 
Swedes  as  Linnaeus,  the  botanist ;  Berzelius,  the  chem- 
ist ;  Tegner,  the  poet ;  and  Wallin,  the  orientalist.  On 
entering  you  first  observe,  and  probably  also  admire, 
three  colossal  marble  figures  of  Odin,  Thor  and  Frey, 
the  chief  deities  of  the  ancient  Scandinavian  mythology. 
The  ground  floor  contains  a  magnificent  collection  of 
coins  and  medals  ;  a  mediocre  one  of  Egyptian  antiqui- 
ties ;  and  a  very  complete  one  of  old  Swedish  stone, 
bronze  and  iron  implements.  The  numismatic  cabinet 
is  one  of  the  best  in  Europe.  In  some  respects— for  in- 
stance, in  its  Anglo-Saxon  coins  dug  up  in  various  parts 
of  Sweden — it  is  even  richer  than  the  British  Museum. 
There  is  a  capital  law  in  Sweden  (similar  to  that  in 
Norway)  which  compels  a  finder  of  any  antiquity  in  the 
earth  to  present  it  to  this  museum,  which  at  once  pays 
its  equivalent  in  cash.  Among  the  national  coins  were 
some  of  copper  which  could  hardly  be  designated  as 
fractional  currency  with  propriety,  since  one  of  them 
weighed  forty-two  pounds.  It  bore  date  1644.  Es- 
pecially noticeable  in  this  admirable  collection  are  the 
large  number  of  Cufic  or  old  Arabian  coins.  These 
probably  found  their  way  to  the  Baltic  from  the  prov- 
ince of  Bagdad  in  the  course  of  the  overland  trade 
which  existed  between  the  sixth  and  tenth  centuries. 

On  the  first  floor  of  the  building  one  finds  many 
rooms  of  armor,  pottery,  bronzes,  and  engravings.     The 


STOCKHOLM.  2  I  I 

second  floor  contains  the  gallery  of  Sovereigns,  Histori- 
cal Costumes,  and  the  Regalia.  This  is  in  many  re- 
spects similar  to  that  at  Copenhagen,  which  has  been 
precedently  portrayed.  It  contains  the  coronation 
robes  and  other  dresses  of  the  kings  of  Sweden  from 
the  days  of  Gustavus  Vasa  down  to  those  of  the  late 
king.  Here  I  saw  the  wig  Charles  XII.  wore  in  dis- 
guise when  he  rode  from  Turkey  to  Stralsund,  and  the 
clothes  that  he  wore  in  the  trenches  of  Fredrickshald, 
including  the  black  felt  hat  showing  the  hole  of  the 
bullet  which  ended  his  astonishing  career.  I  also  saw 
the  stuffed  skin  of  the  horse  Gustavus  Adolphus  rode 
at  the  battle  of  Lutzen,  in  1632  !  The  third  and  top- 
most story  of  the  museum  is  occupied  by  the  picture 
gallery,  which  contains  carefully  selected  specimens  of 
the  Italian,  Spanish,  French,  Dutch,  Flemish,  German 
and  Swedish  schools.  Among  the  "old  masters,"  I 
noticed  the  illustrious  names  of  Tintoretto,  Cranach, 
Vandyke,  Rembrandt,  Rubens,  Velasquez,  and  Claude 
Lorrain. 

Out-of-doors,  on  the  north  side  of  this  museum, 
stands  what  is  justly  regarded  as  the  finest  piece  of 
sculpture  in  Sweden.  It  is  by  Molin,  two  nude  youths, 
heroic  size,  in  bronze,  and  entitled  "  The  "Wrestlers  ;  " 
though  it  would  be  more  accurate  to  call  it  "The 
Duellists,"  since  it  illustrates  the  duels  of  early  times. 
Upon  the  stone  pedestal  four  exquisitely-carved  bronze 
panels,  in  low  relief,  tell  a  tragic  tale.  In  the  first,  two 
youths  are  seen  sitting  in  a  wine-shop,  while  a  beautiful 
maiden  of  whom  they  are  rival  lovers  fills  their  drink- 


212  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

ing-horns  ;  in  the  second,  one  has  taken  some  liberties 
with  the  girl  which  the  other  jealously  resents  ;  in  the 
third,  they  are  shown  stripped  for  the  deadly  duel  ;  and 
upon  the  remaining  side  one  sees  the  fatal  result  of  the 
quarrel — the  death  of  one  of  them — and  the  girl  pictured 
kneeling  and  weeping  before  a  Norsk  tablet,  upon  which 
the  gladiators  are  engraved  in  miniature.  The  con- 
ception and  execution  of  the  whole  sculpture  are  truly 
admirable. 

This  form  of  duelling  prevailed  among  the  lower 
classes  of  Scandinavia  until  within  the  last  half  cen- 
tury. Each  of  the  combatants  usually  began  by  driv- 
ing his  knife  into  a  piece  of  wood,  and  as  much  of  the 
blade  as  was  not  buried  in  it  was  then  carefully  bound 
ronnd  with  strips  of  hide.  So  the  stronger  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  other  before  the  fight  actually  began. 
The  men  were  then  placed  together,  face  to  face,  a 
girdle  was  buckled  about  their  waists  so  that  neither 
could  disunite  himself  from  the  other,  their  knives  were 
handed  to  them,  and  thus  they  fought  to  the  bitter  end. 
Nearly  always  the  combat  ended  in  the  death  of  one  of 
the  combatants,  and  occasionally  both  were  killed.  This 
mode  of  duelling  was  known  as  the  "  duel  of  the  gir- 
dle." In  the  museum  of  northern  antiquities  at  Chris- 
tiania  I  saw  the  girdles  and  knives  formerly  used  in 
these  dreadful  feuds. 

In  Bayard  Taylor's  beautiful  Norwegian  pastoral  of 
"  Lars "  are  some  passages  admirably  descriptive  of 
this  singular  old  custom,  and  which  form,  as  it  were, 
a  sort  of  climax  to  that  poem. 


STOCKHOLM.  2\$ 

"  The  two  before  her,  face  to  face 
Stared  at  each  other  :  Brita  looked  at  them. 
All  three  were  pale  ;  and  she,  with  faintest  voice, 
Remembering  counsel  of  the  tongues  unkind, 
Could  only  breathe  :  '  I  know  not  how  to  choose.' 
'  No  need  ! '  said  Lars  :  '  I  choose  for  you,'  said  Per. 
Then  both  drew  off  and  threw  aside  their  coats, 
Their  broidered  waistcoats,  and  the  silken  scarves 
About  their  necks  ;  but  Per  growled  '  All  !'  and  made 
His  body  bare  to  where  the  leathern  belt 
Is  clasped  between  the  breast-bone  and  the  hip. 
Lars  did  the  same  ;  then,  setting  tight  the  belts, 
Both  turned  a  little  :  the  low  daylight  clad 
Their  forms  with  awful  fairness,  beauty  now 
Of  Life,  so  warm  and  ripe  and  glorious,  yet 
So  near  the  beauty  terrible  of  Death. 
All  saw  the  mutual  sign,  and  understood  ; 
And  two  stepped  forth,  two  men  with  grizzled  hair 
And  earnest  faces,  grasped  the  hooks  of  steel 
In  either's  belt,  and  drew  them  breast  to  breast, 
And  in  the  belts  made  fast  each  other's  hooks. 
An  utter  stillness  on  the  purple  fell 
While  this  was  done  :  each   ace  was  stern  and  strange. 
And  Brita,  powerless  to  turn  her  eyes, 
Heard  herself  cry,  and  started  :   '  Per,  O  Per  ! ' 

When  those  two  backward  stepped,  all  saw  the  flash 
Of  knives,  the  lift  of  arms,  the  instant  clench 
Of  hands  that  held  and  hands  that  strove  to  strike  : 
All  heard  the  sound  of  quick  and  hard  drawn  breath, 
And  naught  beside  ;  but  sudden  red  appeared, 
Splashed  on  the  white  of  shoulders  and  of  arms. 
Then,  thighs  entwined,  and  all  the  body's  force 
Called  to  the  mixed  resistance  and  assault, 
They  reeled  and  swayed,  let  go  the  guarding  clutch, 
And  struck  out  madly.     Per  drew  back,  and  aimed 
A  deadly  blow,  but  Lars  embraced  him  close, 
Reached  o'er  his  shoulder  and  from  underneath 
Thrust  upward,  while  upon  his  ribs  the  knife, 
Glancing,  transfixed  the  arm.     A  gasp  was  heard  : 


214  NORSK',  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

The  struggling  limbs  relaxed  ;  and  both,  still  bound, 
Together,  fell  upon  the  bloody  floor. 

Some  forward  sprang,  and  loosed,  and  lifted  them 
A  little  ;  but  the  head  of  Per  hung  back, 
With  lips  apart  and  dim  blue  eyes  unshut, 
And  all  the  passion  and  the  pain  were  gone 
Forever." 

In  most  of  the  large  towns  of  Sweden  there  are 
extensive  libraries.  That  of  the  old  university  town  of 
Upsala  is  the  largest,  and  next  in  point  of  size  comes 
the  Royal  Library  of  Stockholm  with  120,000  volumes 
and  5,500  MSS.  These  are  contained  in  a  handsome 
and  commodious  building  situated  in  one  of  the  largest 
parks  of  the  city.  Among  the  many  literary  curiosities 
shown  me  was  a  Latin  manuscript  of  the  gospels.  It 
was  known  as  the  Codex  Aureus  from  the  fact  of  its 
being  written  in  gilt  Gothic  characters  upon  folio  vel- 
lum leaves,  which  were  alternately  of  white  and  violet 
colors.  From  an  inscription  in  old  Anglo-Saxon  this 
work  is  believed  to  be  about  twelve  hundred  years  old, 
and  to  have  belonged  formerly  to  Canterbury  Cathe- 
dral. It  was  bought  in  Italy  in  the  last  century  by 
Gustavus  III.,  who  presented  it  to  this  library.  The 
inscription  is  odd  enough  to  be  worth  giving  entire  : 

"  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I,  Alfred, 
Aldorman,  and  Werburg,  my  wife,  obtained  this  book 
from  a  war-troop  with  our  pure  treasure,  which  was 
then  of  pure  gold.  And  this  did  we  two  for  the  love 
of  God  and  for  our  soul's  behoof,  and  for  that  we 
would  not  that  this  holy  book  should  longer  abide  in 


STOCKHOLM.  2 1  5 

heathenesse ;  and  now  will  we  give  it  to  Christ's  church, 
God  to  praise,  and  glory,  and  worship,  in  thankful 
remembrance  of  his  passion,  and  for  the  use  of  the 
holy  brotherhood  who,  in  Christ's  church,  do  daily 
speak  God's  praise,  and  that  they  may  every  month 
read  for  Alfred  and  for  Werburg,  and  for  Ahldryd 
(their  daughter),  their  souls  to  eternal  health,  as  long 
as  they  have  declared  before  God  that  baptism  (holy 
rites)  shall  continue  in  this  place.  Even  so  I  Alfred, 
Dux,  and  Werburg  pray  and  beseech,  in  the  name 
of  God  Almighty,  and  of  all  His  saints,  that  no  man 
shall  be  so  daring  as  to  sell  or  part  with  this  holy  book 
from  Christ's  Church,  so  long  as  baptism  there  may 
stand.     (Signed)  Alfred,  Werburg,  Ahldryd." 

Here  also  I  saw  the  famous  Devil's  Bible,  so  called 
from  a  hideous  illumination  prefixed  to  an  appended 
incantation  against  robbers  and  maladies.  This  is 
a  huge  manuscript  written  on  three  hundred  asses' 
hides,  which  were  prepared  in  a  peculiar  manner.  It 
was  the  work  of  Benedictine  monks  at  Prague,  and 
dates  from  the  ninth  century.  From  internal  evidence 
it  is  believed  to  have  been  about  five  hundred  years  in 
preparation.  It  was  found  in  Prague  when  that  city 
was  taken  by  the  Swedes  in  the  thirty  years'  war.  The 
oldest  book  in  the  Royal  Library,  printed  with  mova- 
ble types,  is  a  Cicero  de  Officiis,  from  the  press  of  Faust 
and  Schceffer,  in  1461. 

In  the  southern  suburb  of  Stockholm  there  is  little 
worth  seeing  save  the  house  in  which  Emanuel  Swe- 
denborg,    the   celebrated   mathematician,  philosopher, 


2l6  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

and  theosophist  lived.  A  small  summer-house  in  its 
garden  was  his  favorite  retreat  for  study.  Swedenborg 
has  been  dead  more  than  a  century,  yet  these  memen- 
toes of  him  are  still  standing  and  are  religiously  pro- 
tected. The  house  is  but  a  single  story  in  height,  very 
long  and  narrow,  with  small  doors  and  huge  double 
windows.  The  roof  is  covered  with  red  tiles,  through 
which  protrudes  in  the  centre  a  great  dormer  window. 

The  doctrines  propounded  by  this  remarkable  man, 
and  now  enshrined  in  the  church  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
are  accepted  by  a  large  number  of  societies  in  the 
United  States  ;  though  as  a  religious  body  the  Sweden- 
borgians  have  not  had  a  very  prosperous  existence  any- 
where. Their  largest  American  congregation  is  in  Bos- 
ton— that  "  hub  "  of  isms.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to 
enter  into  any  account  of  their  belief,  which  is  in  fact 
only  a  phase  of  spiritualism  unaccompanied  by  those 
vulgar  and  puerile  characteristics  which  have  brought 
the  spiritualism  of  the  medium  into  disrepute.  But 
since  Swedenborg  was  one  of  the  greatest  intellectual 
products  of  the  Stockholm  of  the  past,  I  will  very 
briefly  sketch  the  prominent  features  of  his  career. 
Born  at  Stockholm  in  1688,  after  taking  his  degree  at 
the  university  of  Upsala,  Swedenborg  travelled  over 
Holland,  England,  France  and  Germany.  Upon  .re- 
turning he  was  appointed  an  assessor  in  the  College  of 
Mines.  In  1721  he  again  travelled,  chiefly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  examining  mines.  Then  for  twenty  years  he 
continued  his  studies  with  such  ardor  and  success  as 
entitled  him  to  rank   among  the   first  philosophers  of 


STOCKHOLM.  2 1  J 

Europe.     In  1743,  however,  a  new  era  in  his  life  com- 
menced, for  it  was  in  that  year,  he  affirms,  that  he  was 
permitted  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants  of 
the   invisible  world.     He  was  then  fifty-five   years  of 
age.     Four  years   later   he  resigned  his   office  in   the 
mining  college  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
Sweden,  Holland  and  England,  devoting  himself  to  the 
composition  and  publication  of  his  theological  works. 
That  in  which  he  endeavors  to  present  his  voluminous 
experiences  and  doctrines  is  entitled  the  Arcana  Ccelestia, 
and  first  saw  the  light  in  London  in  eight  goodly  quar- 
tos.    All  his  books  were  printed  in    Latin,  after  the 
fashion   of  the   time,  and  were  brought  out  in   either 
London  or  Amsterdam,  since  the  press  of  that  day  was 
not  free  in  Sweden.     His  works  received  little  attention 
from  his  contemporaries.     He  died  in  London,  in  1772. 
The  particulars  of  his  remarkable  transition,  at  the 
mature   age  of  fifty-five,  from   the  role  of  scientist  to 
that  of  seer,  and  from   philosophy   to  theosophy,  are 
given    at    some   length   in  his    diary.      "  Whatever  of 
worldly  advantage,"  he  says,  "  may  be  in  these  things 
[literature  and  science],  I  hold  them  as  matters  of  low 
estimation,  compared  with  the  honor  of  that  holy  office 
to  which  I  have  been  called  by  the  Lord  himself,  who 
was   graciously   pleased   to  manifest  himself  to  me,  his 
unworthy  servant,  in  a  personal  appearance,  in  the  year 
1743  ;  to  open  to  me  a  sight  of  the  spiritual  world,  and 
to  enable  me  to  converse  with  spirits  and  angels  ;  and 
this  privilege  has  continued  with  me  to  this  day.     From 
that  time  I  began  to  print  and  publish  various  unknown 


2 1 8  NORSK",  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

arcana,  which  have  been  either  seen  by  me  or  revealed 
to  me,  concerning  heaven  and  hell,  the  state  of  men 
after  death,  the  true  worship  of  God,  the  spiritual  sense 
of  the  scriptures,  and  many  other  important  truths  tend- 
ing to  salvation  and  true  wisdom." 

Among  the  spirits  who  conversed  with  him  in  his 
visions,  Swedenborg  mentions,  "apostles,  departed 
popes,  emperors,  and  kings,  with  the  late  reformers  of 
the  church,  Luther,  Calvin,  and  Melancthon,  and  with 
others  from  different  countries."  Some  of  his  verdicts 
on  past  celebrities  would  be  amusing,  if  they  were  not 
appalling.  Thus  he  describes  King  David  and  St.  Paul 
as  among  the  lost ;  while  Louis  XIV..  and  George  II. 
are  distinguished  angels.  Not  only  did  spirits  who  had 
once  dwelt  in  this  world  in  human  flesh  give  him  intel- 
ligence concerning  the  heaven,  the  hell,  or  the  purga- 
tory which  they  inhabited,  but  souls  which  never  had 
been  human  thronged  to  him,  so  he  said,  from  the 
moon  and  planets — with  the  exception  of  such  planets 
as  were  not  discovered  until  after  he  was  dead.  It  is  a 
pity  he  could  not  have  told  us  about  Uranus  and  Nep- 
tune— informed  us  less  about  heaven,  and  more  about 
astronomy.  He  cleverly  kept  his  spiritism  well  in 
hand,  however,  by  being  his  own  medium. 

Stockholm  is  very  liberally  supplied  with  places  of 
public  recreation  and  amusement,  such  as  parks,  Tivolis 
or  concert  saloons,  casinos,  cafes-chantants,  theatres 
and  the  opera.  On  summer  evenings  the  concert- 
saloons  are  crowded  and  the  music  is  generally  excel- 
lent.     At    one   of   them    I    saw    Johann    Strauss,    the 


STOCKHOLM.  219 

Viennese  "  Waltz  King,"  directing  the  orchestra,  his  coat 
covered  with  decorations,  and  with  the  same  old  rhyth- 
mic movement  of  the  arms  and  body  for  which  he  long 
ago  became  notorious.  The  opera-house  is  open  dur- 
ing the  winter  five  times  a  week,  this  of  course,  as  in 
all  the  continental  countries  of  Europe,  including  Sun- 
day. The  Swedes  are  passionately  fond  of  music,  and 
have  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  two  great  singers  they 
have  given  to  the  world — Jenny  Lind  and  Christine 
Nilsson.  At  the  Royal  Dramatic  Theatre,  Shake- 
speare's plays  and  historical  dramas  are  given.  But  it 
is  of  their  Djurgarden  or  Deer  Park  that  these  people 
are  especially  proud,  and  with  justice,  since  it  is  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  spots  in  Europe.  It  is  so  easy  of 
access  that  you  may  reach  it  by  one  of  the  little  steam 
gondolas  in  five  minutes  from  the  very  centre  of  the 
city.  The  park  is  about  twenty  miles  in  circumference 
and  is  kept  in  excellent  order.  A  portion  of  it  is 
primeval  forest  like  the  Vienna  "  Prater  "  and  the  Ber- 
lin "  Thiergarten  ;  "  part  is  lake  and  stream  ;  here  are 
cafes,  music-halls,  an  open-air  theatre  or  a  circus  ;  and 
there  is  a  lofty  tower  from  which  the  finest  possible 
view  of  Stockholm  may  be  obtained. 

I  should  not,  perhaps,  close  this  chapter  without  at 
least  referring  to  a  peculiar  Swedish  custom  which  is 
not  unlike  one  I  encountered  in  Japan.  Many  of  the 
men's  baths  in  Stockholm  are  attended  by  women,  who 
scrub  and  shampoo  one  with  astonishing  nonchalance  ; 
though  not  here,  as  I  afterwards  saw  in  Finland,  does 
the   shameless   immodesty   of   the   people   permit   the 


220  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

sexes  to  bathe  freely  together  in  the  public  baths. 
There,  even  families  and  members  of  several  genera- 
tions— grandfather,  father,  mother  and  children — take 
unembarrassed  turns  in  scrubbing  each  other's  backs  ! 
I  will  say  nothing  more  than  to  repeat  a  former  ques- 
tion— does  not  every  country  have  its  own  peculiar 
customs  ? — feeling  certain  that  in  this  instance  at  least 
the  answer  of  the  reader  will  be  a  fervid  "Yea,  verily." 


CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Gotha  Canal. 

To  obtain  a  good  idea  of  Sweden,  one  should  cer- 
tainly add  to  a  visit  to  the  capital  a  tour  of  the  Gotha 
Canal  and  the  intervening  lakes.  This  great  artificial 
watercourse  originated  in  the  desire  of  Sweden,  in  case 
of  hostilities  with  Denmark,  to  have  an  outlet  on  the 
North  Sea,  since  the  latter  country  commanded  the  sole 
entrance  to  the  Baltic.  The  scheme  was  first  thought 
practicable  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Swedenborg,  among  other  noted  men,  was  much  inter- 
ested in  its  progress.  In  1S00,  a  canal  three  miles  in 
length  was  cut  in  the  solid  rock  around  the  Trollhattan 
Falls  on  the  Gotha  River,  near  the  proposed  western 
exit  of  the  canal.  This  was  regarded  as  the  most  diffi- 
cult part  of  the  undertaking.  In  1808,  the  famous 
English  engineer,  Thomas  Telford,  was  consulted  in 
regard  to  the  best  route  for  the  remainder  of  the  line. 
In  1819,  a  short  canal  from  Lake  Malar,  not  far  from 
Stockholm,  to  the  Baltic,  was  completed.  Four  years 
later  long  communications  were  opened  between  the 
Baltic  and  the  great  interior  lakes  Wettern  and  Wenern. 
Then  the  Trollhattan  cut  was  widened  ;  and  finally  the 
entire  route  between  Stockholm  and  Gothenburg  was 


222  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

opened  for  traffic  in  1855.  The  work  had  been  chiefly 
carried  on  by  the  army,  which  otherwise  would  have 
been  unemployed,  and  had  cost  something  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  $10,000,000 — much  less  than  a  "  Brooklyn 

Bridge  ! " 

The  entire  length  of  the  canal,  from  Stockholm  on 
the  Baltic  to  Gothenburg  on  the  Kattegat,  is  370  miles. 
There  are  seven  sections  of  canal,  having  altogether  74 
locks.  The  length  of  the  cuts  is  about  50  miles.  The 
same  distance  is  traversed  along  the  coast  of  the  Baltic, 
and  the  remaining  270  miles  are  through  lakes  and 
rivers,  where  the  navigation  is  in  many  places  very  intri- 
cate. The  cuttings  are  10  feet  deep,  50  feet  wide  at  the 
bottom,  and  90  on  the  surface.  The  cuts  of  the  Cale- 
donian Canal,  in  Scotland,  of  which  the  Gotha  Canal 
often  reminds  the  traveller,  are  120  feet  broad  on  the 
surface,  50  at  the  bottom,  and  17  feet  in  depth.  The 
Scottish,  however,  has  only  about  one-third  as  many 
locks  to  pass  as  the  Swedish  Canal. 

Though  the  original  intention  was  to  have  a  water- 
way to  use  in  time  of  war,  it  was  found  to  be  admirably 
adapted  for  domestic  and  foreign  trade,  and  for  pas- 
sengers wishing  to  escape  the  delay  and  expense  of 
passing  around  by  the  Sound.  It  takes  by  this  route 
only  sixty  hours  to  go  from  Stockholm  to  Gothenburg 
or  vice  versa.  The  journey  by  rail,  should  the  traveller 
prefer  to  vary  his  route  in  coming  or  going,  occupies 
one  day.  The  steamers  sail  four  times  a  week  and  run 
night  and  day,  which  is  something  of  a  disadvantage  to 
the  si^ht-seer  ;  though  the  most  picturesque  parts  must 


THE   GOTHA    CANAL.  223 

necessarily  be  passed  by  daylight,  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  the  navigation.  The  steamers  are  small,  accommo- 
dating only  twenty  first-class  passengers,  but  they  are 
comfortably  furnished,  and  the  table  is  good. 

Leaving  Stockholm,  the  steamer  winds  its  way  among 
the  hundreds  of  beautiful  islets  with  which  Lake  Malar 
is  studded.  Numerous  villas  are  seen  upon  the  banks, 
and  the  water  is  covered  with  boats  and  barges  of  all 
sizes  and  shapes.  The  first  town  at  which  we  stop  is 
that  of  Sodertelge,  about  twenty  miles  from  the  capital, 
whose  inhabitants  frequent  it  as  a  bathing-place.  Here 
is  the  first  cutting.  It  extends  about  two  miles  through 
sandy  ravines  and  has  but  one  lock.  We  pass  several 
fine  old  castles  upon  each  shore,  and  threading  our  way 
among  innumerable  islands,  finally  emerge  into  the  sea. 
Two  hours  later  we  are  steaming  up  a  beautiful  fiord  to 
the  town  of  Soderkoping,  whence  the  canal  proceeds 
through  several  locks,  between  two  mountains,  and  out 
into  a  little  lake,  and  then  again  becomes  a  canal,  until 
we  reach  Lake  Roxen,  a  pretty  and  pellucid  expanse 
about  fifteen  miles  in  length  and  six  in  width.  Beyond 
this  body  of  water  there  are  sixteen  locks  which,  with 
those  already  passed,  raise  the  canal  245  feet  above  the 
Baltic.  Another  small  lake  being  passed  over,  we  arrive 
at  the  town  of  Motala,  where  are  situated  the  largest 
iron  foundries  and  steam-engine  manufactories  in  Swe- 
den. Here  are  also  paper  mills  and  match  factories. 
Not  far  distant  from  Motala  is  the  grave  of  Baron  von 
Platen,  a  Swedish  engineer,  who  might  properly  be  called 
the  founder  of  the  canal  as  it  now  exists. 


224  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

Lake  Wettern,  a  body  of  water  eighty  miles  in  length, 
and  narrow,  but  very  deep,  is  crossed  in  less  than  an 
hour,  and  soon  after  Lake  Viken,  39S  feet  above  sea- 
level  and  the  highest  point  on  the  canal,  is  reached. 
From  here,  the  steamer  slowly  descends  through  long 
cuttings  and  basins,  until  we  reach  Lake  Wenern,  where 
the  scenery  is  very  beautiful  so  long  as  we  remain  in 
sight  of  land.  This  is  the  largest  lake  in  Sweden,  and 
the  third  in  Europe  in  regard  to  its  dimensions,  the 
first  and  second  being  Lakes  Ladoga  and  Onega  in 
Russia.  It  is  about  a  hundred  miles  in  length,  by  fifty 
in  width,  and  in  many  places  is  said  to  be  upwards  of 
300  feet  in  depth.  The  water -of  these  great  inland 
lakes  is  like  that  of  a  clear  spring.  At  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  Lake  Wenern  is  the  town  of  Wernersberg, 
where  we  land  some  cargo,  and  then  rush  on  down  the 
Gotha  River  to  Trollhattan.  Here  are  the  famous  falls 
which  necessitated  the  most  stupendous  rock  cutting  of 
the  entire  canal,  and  to  which  I  have  already  referred. 
The  difference  in  level  from  the  point  at  which  this  cut- 
ting leaves  the  river,  above  the  falls,  to  the  point  where 
it  joins  it  again,  is  120  feet.  In  passing,  nine  locks  are 
employed,  and  since  this  requires  about  two  hours,  the 
passenger  has  ample  time  to  inspect  the  falls. 

The  word  Trollhattan  signifies  the  "  home  of  the 
water-witches,"  and  when  one  sees  the  bright  foaming 
water  rushing  past  the  dark  fir-covered  islands  and 
dashing  upon  the  rocks  below,  with  a  roar  which  renders 
conversation  impossible,  the  poetry  of  the  Swedish  name 
seems  not  misapplied.     But  in  truth,  these  leaping  tor- 


THE   GOTH  A    CANAL.  225 

rents  are  rather  cataracts  than  falls.  They  number 
seven,  the  highest  being  but  44  feet,  and  all  combined 
having  an  altitude  of  only  112  feet.  The  lack  of  greater 
height  (which  one  fresh  from  the  fosses  of  Norway  is 
apt  to  expect)  is  amply  compensated  for  by  the  vast 
volume  of  water  which  is  always  in  the  river,  and  which 
is  so  much  missed  in  the  Norwegian  falls,  at  least 
during  the  summer  months.  On  our  way  down  along- 
side these  cataracts,  the  guide  shows  us  what  is  called 
the  Kungsgrottan  or  King's  Cave,  a  curious  excavation 
in  the  solid  rock,  upon  which  are  carved  the  names  of 
many  Swedish  kings  who  have  visited  the  home  of  the 
water-witches.  This  custom  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
Assyrian  and  Moabite  monarchs,  who  were  in  the  habit 
of  recording  their  victories  in  inscriptions  on  the  rocks. 
The  Trollhattan  rock  is  especially  interesting  when 
considered  from  a  geological  standpoint.  It  is  in  the 
form  of  a  smoothly-polished  hemisphere,  and  must,  at 
some  very  remote  period,  have  formed  a  portion  of  the 
bed  of  a  glacier  whose  torrents,  whirling  around  loose 
stones,  gradually  carved  its  surface  and  drilled  holes  in 
it  like  the  "  giant's  caldrons  "  or  pot-holes  found  in 
England  and  in  Switzerland. 

Within  three  or  four  hours  after  rejoining  the  course 
of  the  river,  we  are  at  Gothenburg,  having  passed 
through  a  beautiful  region  dotted  with  farm-houses, 
churches,  and  manufactories.  This,  the  western  termi- 
nus of  the  great  canal,  is  the  second  city  and  first  com- 
mercial port  of  Sweden.  Its  present  population  is 
about  70,000.     It  is  connected  by  railway  with  all  the 


226  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

principal  cities  of  Sweden  and  Norway.  It  daily  com- 
municates by  steamer  with  Denmark  ;  and  in  like  fash- 
ion it  communicates  weekly  with  Hamburg,  Amster- 
dam, London,  Havre,  and  New  York.  The  town  is 
built  on  the  Dutch  plan,  reminding  one  of  Rotterdam 
with  its  intersecting  canals  covered  with  picturesque 
craft.  The  streets  of  Gothenburg  are  well  paved  and 
the  houses,  mostly  of  brick  and  three  stories  in  height, 
have  a  plain  but  comfortable  appearance.  In  the  prin- 
cipal square  stands  a  large  bronze  statue  of  the  founder 
of  the  city,  Gustavus  Adolphus.  The  exports  from 
Gothenburg  are  those  of  Sweden  in  general — bar-iron, 
timber,  and  corn  ;  and  so  likewise  are  the  imports — 
textile  manufactures,  coals  and  colonial  produce.  I 
might  add  that  the  total  exports  of  Sweden  in  1878 
amounted,  in  round  numbers,  to  $63,000,000  and  the 
imports  in  the  same  year,  to  $80,000,000. 

Two  express  trains  leave  Gothenburg  daily  for 
Stockholm,  passing  between  the  great  lakes  Wenern 
and  Wettern,  and  connecting  midway  on  their  route 
with  the  railroad  from  Christiania.  The  railway-car- 
riages are  similar  to  those  used  in  Germany.  The  line 
passes  through  a  richly-wooded  and  often  highly-culti- 
vated and  undulating  country,  diversified  by  dark  hills, 
sparkling  waterfalls,  gray  ruins,  and  quaint  villages. 
Occasionally  I  see  the  picturesque  national  costumes  of 
the  peasants.  No  town  upon  the  road,  however,  is  of 
sufficient  importance  or  interest  to  detain  me.  Leav- 
ing Gothenburg  early  in  the  morning,  I  arrive  at  the 
capital  in  the  evening. 


THE   GOTH  A    CANAL.  227 

A  brief  comparison  of  the  sister  countries  to  which 
this  volume  is  mainly  devoted,  will  at  least  prove  in- 
structive, if  not  very  entertaining.  Sweden  is  remarka- 
bly like  Norway  in  its  dimensions.  Thus,  its  greatest 
length  is  only  one  hundred  miles  less  than  that  of  Nor- 
way, and  its  greatest  width  only  twenty-five  miles  less. 
But  so  narrow  is  the  greater  part  of  Norway  that  the 
area  of  Sweden  exceeds  it  by  about  50,000  square 
miles.  Sweden  differs  very  much  from  Norway  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  for  the  most  part  a  level  country 
filled  with  rivers  and  lakes.  There  is  a  community  of 
structure,  however,  in  the  forests  of  pine,  fir  and  birch 
which  cover  about  half  the  surface  of  each  country. 
Norway  contains  several  mines,  but  they  are  not,  like 
those  of  Sweden,  remarkable  for  their  copper,  zinc  and 
iron. 

Sweden  possesses  more  than  double  the  population 
of  Norway  ;  though  again  there  is  a  similarity  in  that 
about  three-fourths  of  the  inhabitants  of  each  country 
are  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits.  Among  both 
nations  a  person  can  rarely  be  met  who  can  neither 
read  nor  write.  As  in  Norway,  so  in  some  of  those 
parts  of  Sweden  which  are  very  thinly  settled,  the 
scho'ols  are  moved  from  point  to  point  so  as  to  reach 
all  the  people.  Instruction  is  here  gratuitous  and 
compulsory,  and  those  children  not  attending  schools 
under  the  supervision  of  the  government  must  furnish 
proofs  of  having  been  privately  educated.  In  1877,  98 
per  cent,  of  all  the  children  between  eight  and  fifteen 
years  of  age  attended  the  public  schools.     In  France 


228  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND   FINN. 

75  per  cent  of  those  between  five  and  fifteen  attend 
school;  in  England  72,  and  in  the  United  States  82 
per  cent.  The  high  schools  of  the  towns  of  Sweden 
are  capitally  managed.  As  previously  mentioned,  the 
University  of  Upsala,  with  over  1,000  students,  has  an 
enviable  celebrity.  It  is  calculated  that  of  the  total 
male  population  of  the  kingdom  one  in  every  668  enjoys 
a  liberal  or  university  education.  The  government  has 
lately  introduced  the  Metric  System  into  both  Sweden 
and  Norway.  One  hundred  and  fifty  newspapers  are 
said  to  exist  in  Sweden,  very  many  more  than  are 
published  in  Norway.  The  Swedes  have  singular, 
though  just,  laws  concerning  the  public  press.  Al- 
though the  press  is  free,  editors  are  held  responsible 
for  what  they  publish.  If  accused  of  false  statement 
they  are  immediately  tried.  The  prosecutor,  the  ac- 
cused, and  the  court  together  choose  a  jury  of  nine 
persons,  and  a  two-thirds  vote  of  these  is  decisive. 

Sweden  much  surpasses  Norway  in  the  number  of 
its  railways  and  steamers.  In  Sweden,  3,500  miles  are 
now  opened  ;  while  more  than  200  steamers  are  engaged 
in  coast  and  inland  navigation.  The  railways  are  built 
partly  at  the  cost  of  the  State.  In  1879,  the  Diet  voted 
nearly  $2,500,000  for  the  construction  of  new  railroads. 
Telegraph  lines  cover  both  Norway  and  Sweden,  the 
charge  being  about  thirty  cents  for  twenty  words  sent 
anywhere  in  the  peninsula.  The  total  length  of  the 
telegraph  wires  in  Sweden  is  nearly  18,000  miles. 

Emigration  from  both  Norway  and  Sweden  (mostly 
to  the  United  States)  commenced  in  recent  years,  and 


THE   GOTHA    CANAL.  22Q 

showed  at  first  signs  of  increasing,  but  is  now  on  the 
wane.  In  1869,  there  were  39,064  Swedish  emigrants  ; 
five  years  later,  the  annual  rate  had  fallen  to  7,791  ; 
and  in  1S76,  it  had  only  risen  again  to  9,418. 

Most  European  countries  at  the  present  day  possess 
colonies  in  some  part  or  other  of  the  world,  and  Sweden 
barely  escapes  being  an  exception,  for  her  single  colony 
is  the  diminutive  island  of  St.  Bartholomew,  in  the  West 
Indies.  A  hundred  years  ago  this  island  was  ceded  by 
France  to  Sweden.  It  has  an  area  of  about  thirty  square 
miles,  and  ten  thousand  inhabitants.  Two-thirds  of 
these  are  negroes  who  were  formerly  slaves,  but  were 
emancipated  by  the  Swedish  government  in  1847.  This 
little  Caribbean  island  is  hilly  in  the  interior  and  quite 
fertile,  but  though  cotton,  sugar,  and  indigo  are  pro- 
duced, only  cattle  and  salt  are  exported. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Grand  Duchy  of  Finland. 

Twice  a  week  a  capacious  iron  steamer  leaves  Stock- 
holm for  St.  Petersburg,  touching  at  four  of  the  chief 
towns  of  Finland.  The  time  required  to  traverse  this 
route  is  four  days.  Though  the  coast  scenery  is  said  to 
be  far  more  interesting  than  that  inland,  I  thought  it 
would  be  better  to  break  my  voyage  at  the  second  stop- 
ping-place of  the  steamer,  namely  Helsingfors,  the 
modern  capital  of  Finland,  and  thence  journey  overland 
by  rail  through  the  most  thickly  settled  districts  of  the 
country,  to  the  town  of  Wiborg,  and  then  on  to  St. 
Petersburg.  This  would  give  me  an  opportunity  to  see 
something  more  of  the  peasants  and  the  agricultural 
condition  of  the  interior. 

For  some  time  after  leaving  Stockholm  we  threaded 
our  way  among  the  many  rocky  islets  which  skirt  the 
Swedish  coast.  Then  we  had  about  six  hours  of  the 
"  open  sea  "  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  which  as  usual, 
owing  to  its  shallowness,  afforded  us  a  placid  sail.  In 
winter,  a  few  miles  north  of  our  course,  there  is  a  road 
over  the  ice  from  Sweden  to  Finland,  and  here  in  1809 
Barclay  de  Tolly  crossed  with  a  division  of  the  Russian 
army.     The  posi:  is  now  regularly  carried  by  this  rout° 


THE   GRAND  DUCHY  OF  FINLAND.         23 1 

upon  the  closing  of  navigation.  But  here  we  are  again 
slowly  feeling  our  way  through  a  similar  fringe  of  islets 
to  those  we  had  only  recently  left  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  gulf. 

The  first  view  of  Abo  is  rather  fine,  with  its  old 
castle  on  a  hill  and  its  houses  painted  red.  The  city  is 
built  beside  a  little  river,  in  which  the  steamer  casts 
anchor.  The  passports  being  examined  and  the  lug- 
gage searched  by  the  customs  officials,  we  are  at  liberty 
to  land.  Near  at  hand  on  the  quay  I  find  a  large  and 
good  hotel  called  the  Societats-hus.  Abo  is  the  most 
ancient  city  in  Finland,  having  been  founded  more  than 
seven  hundred  years  ago.  At  first  one  is  struck  by  its 
straggling  appearance,  knowing  that  it  contains  nearly 
23,000  inhabitants.  This  peculiarity  is  soon  explained, 
however,  by  the  width  of  the  streets,  the  lowness  of  the 
houses,  and  the  number  of  seemingly  eligible  sites  un- 
occupied. The  city  was  once  dreadfully  ravaged  by 
fire,  and  when  it  was  rebuilt  the  houses  were  pumosely 
thus  placed  far  apart.  What  with  fires,  the  removal  cf 
its  university  and  library  to  Helsingfors.  and  its  dimin- 
ishing trade,  the  glory  of  Abo  has  well-nigh  departed. 

The  remote  era  of  the  founding  of  this  city  recaLs 
the  early  history  of  Finland,  which  I  find,  as  is  usual  in 
all  thut  reiates  to  native  story,  full  of  obscurity.  In 
fact  nothing  is  certainly  known  of  this  wild  and  cold 
country  before  the  twelfth  century.  In  1157  a  king  of 
Sweden  named  Eric,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Pope, 
undertook  a  crusade  against  the  Finns,  with  the  une- 
qually laudable   objects   of  converting   them,   and    oi 


232  ArORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

punishing  them  for  their  depredations  on  the  Swedish 
coast.  A  century  later,  the  power  of  Sweden  was 
firmly  established  in  Finland,  and  remained  dominant 
for  nearly  four  hundred  years.  In  1699,  however,  began 
a  war  with  Russia,  which  continued  with  varying  for- 
tunes until  172 1.  In  that  year  a  peace  was  signed 
which  ceded  to  Russia  the  province  of  Wiborg,  that 
adjoining  Lake  Ladoga.  At  about  this  period,  it  is 
said,  the  population  of  Finland  amounted  to  250,000. 
It  has  now  reached  a  total  of  1,800,000,  exactly  the 
same  number  that  Norway  contains,  and  about  200,000 
less  than  that  of  Denmark.  Before  many  years  the 
Swedes,  anxious  to  gain  possession  of  their  lost  prov- 
inces, declared  war  again.  But  their  army  was  in  such 
a  disorganized  state  that  only  defeat  could  follow.  Be- 
sides, there  were  political  factions  at  home,  and  con- 
spiracies among  the  troops  abroad.  But  notwithstand- 
ing all  these  discouragements  and  hindrances,  a  naval 
victory  of  the  Swedes,  in  1790,  finally  resulted  in  a 
peace  with  Russia  by  which  all  matters  were  suffered 
to  remain  on  the  basis  on  which  they  had  stood  before 
the  war.  Still  another  conflict,  happily  the  last,  ended 
in  the  conquest  of  Finland  by  the  Russians,  and  the 
assurance  to  the  Finns  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  I. 
that  their  religion  and  the  integrity  of  their  constitu- 
tions were  to  be  maintained  and  protected. 

The  steamer,  following  the  coast  to  the  eastward, 
reaches  Helsingfors  in  about  twelve  hours  after  leaving 
Abo.  This,  the  capital  of  the  country  and  the  seat  of 
the  Senate,  has  a  population  of  nearly  35,000.     It  was 


THE    GRAND   DUCHY  OF  FINLAND.         233 

founded  by  Gustavus  Vasa  of  Sweden,  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  approach  to  Helsingfors  from  the  Gulf 
of  Finland  is  very  striking.  The  harbor  is  protected 
by  the  fortress  of  Sweaborg,  built  on  seven  islands  and 
regarded  as  so  impregnable  as  to  receive  the  title  of  the 
Gibraltar  of  the  North.  Helsingfors  has  the  appear- 
ance of  a  Russian  rather  than  of  a  Swedish  town.  The 
streets  are  broad  and  arranged  at  right  angles  ;  the 
houses  are  large  and  regular.  The  harbor  front  is  lined 
with  a  handsome  granite  quay.  Some  of  the  public 
buildings  are  worth  visiting.  My  Finn  guide  certainly 
took  great  pride  in  showing  me  the  museum  of  the 
university,  containing  a  rich  collection  of  the  zoology 
of  the  country  ;  the  cathedral  of  the  Assumption,  from 
the  dome  of  which  a  fine  view  is  obtained  ;  and  the 
theatre,  built  after  the  model  of  the  Dresden  Opera- 
house,  where  performances  during  the  season  are 
given,  in  the  Swedish  language,  four  times  a  week. 
Afterwards  I  was  convoyed  about  the  Botanical  Garden, 
whence  splendid  views  of  the  surrounding  country  are 
to  be  obtained. 

In  the  Senate  House,  the  late  Emperor  Alexander 
II.  has  several  times  presided  in  person,  and  you  are 
shown  a  splendid  throne  upon  which  he  sat  in  state. 
Finland,  the  reader  is  aware,  is  a  Grand  Duchy  of  that 
empire  which  comprises  one-seventh  of  the  territorial 
part  of  the  globe.  Like  Poland  it  is  ruled  by  a  Gov- 
ernor-General, assisted  by  the  Imperial  Senate,  over 
which  a  representative  of  the  Emperor  regularly  presides. 
Then  at  St.  Petersburg  dwells  a  sort  of  Secretary  of 


234  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

State  for  Finland,  whose  offices  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  British  Secretary  of  State  for  India.  So  it  will  be 
seen  that  this  Grand  Duchy  is  in  a  manner  independent. 
It  pays  no  tribute  to  Russia,  and  the  consent  of  the 
Diet  must  be  obtained  for  the  introduction  of  new  laws 
and  new  taxes. 

The  University  of  Helsingfors  has  four  faculties,  forty 
professors,  and  nearly  seven  hundred  students.  The 
remains  of  the  library,  which  were  saved  from  the  great 
fire  at  Abo,  are  preserved  in  the  Ritter  Haus  or  Hall 
of  Nobles,  and  consist  of  about  150,000  volumes.  Print- 
ing was  introduced  into  Finland  in  1641.  This  library 
then  contained  only  twenty-one  books  and  a  globe. 

Professor  Nordenskiold,  the  famous  explorer  of  the 
northern  seas,  who  is  a  Finn  by  birth,  though  now  a 
Swedish  subject,  was  educated  at  the  university  here  in 
1849-53.      He  passed  "first  "in  all  the  examinations, 
and  was  afterwards  appointed  Director  of  the  Faculty 
of  Mathematics  and  Physics.      But  his  taste  was  rather 
toward  natural  history,  in  the  highest  branches  of  which 
he  labored  incessantly.     He  had  already  written  some 
works  on  mineralogy,  which  are  still  regarded  as  valuable. 
In  1 85 6,  Frofesiior  Nordenskiold  was  offered  his  choice 
between  the  chair  of  Mineralogy  and  Geology,  or  an  ap- 
pointment to  proceed  on  a  voyage  of  exploration.     He 
chose    the   latter   but  hesitated   so    long   that   another 
appointment  was  made  in  his  stead.    About  this  time  he 
received  fiom  his  Alma  Mater,  the  University  of  Helsing- 
fors, his  degrees  of  Master  of  Arts  and  Doctor  of  Phi- 
losophy.    The  cause  of  his  leaving  Finland  and  obtain- 


THE    GRAND  DUCHY  OF  FINLAND.         235 

ing  letters  of  naturalization  as  a  Swedish  subject,  was  his 
persecution  by  the  authorities  on  account  of  his  frequent 
interference  in  the  politics  of  the  Grand  Duchy,  with 
which  he  never  was  in  accord.  In  changing  his  country, 
however,  he  did  not  change  his  political  views  either  in 
theory  or  practice,  for  he  sat  and  voted  in  the  Chamber 
of  Nobles  during  the  last  two  Assemblies  of  the  Swedish 
States,  and  for  several  years  was  Liberal  member  for 
Stockholm. 

In  1876,  it  will  be  remembered,  Nordenskiold  visited 
the  United  States,  and  was  honored  by  the  American 
Geographical  Society  with  an  invitation  to  a  public  re- 
ception, in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  which  other  specially 
invited  guests  were  to  be  present,  namely,  H.  M.  the 
Emperor  of  Brazil,  the  late  Dr.  Aug.  Peterman  the  emi- 
nent cartographer,  and  Dr.  C.  H.  Berendt,  the  highest 
living  authority  upon  the  ancient  civilizations  of  Central 
America.  Unfortunately,  however,  for  the  members  of 
the  Society,  Professor  Nordenskiold  was  not  able  to 
accept  the  invitation,  as  he  was  compelled  to  leave  for 
Europe  two  days  before  the  meeting,  that  he  might  be 
in  time  for  the  starting  of  a  new  expedition  to  the  Arctic, 
planned  and  headed  by  himself.  This  expedition,  which, 
like  that  of  the  previous  year,  had  for  its  object  the 
exploration  of  the  great  Siberian  rivers,  was  in  the  end 
satisfactorily  accomplished.  For  no  less  woithy  a  pur- 
pose, or  successful  a  performance,  would  the  members 
of  the  A.  G.  S.  have  foregone  so  sudden  a  departure  of 
a  scholar  and  discoverer  entitled  to  suDeremincnt  re- 
spect and  praise. 


236  A'ORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

The  last  exploration  of  Nordenskiold,  as  all  my 
readers  know,  forms  a  most  brilliant  part  of  the  great 
history  of  Arctic  navigation.  Leaving  Tromsoe,  on  the 
west  coast  of  Norway,  in  the  midsummer  of  1878,  with 
the  avowed  intention  of  not  only  reaching  the  mouth  of 
the  Lena  River  in  Siberia,  but  of  actually  pushing  on 
further  to  the  east  until  an  exit  might  be  gained  from 
the  Arctic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  via  Behring's  Straits, 
he  was  unfortunately  embayed  in  the  ice  at  a  point  only 
a  few  hundred  miles  to  the  westward  of  his  objective 
point.  Here  he  was  compelled  to  remain  until  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  when  the  anxious  world  again  heard  of 
him  at  Japan.  The  "  northeast  passage,"  had  at  last 
been  discovered,  326  years  after  the  first  expedition  of 
which  we  know,  that  of  Willoughby  and  Chancellor,  and 
twenty-seven  years  after  the  "  northwest  passage,"  around 
America,  was  proved  to  exist  by  M'Clure.  Nordenskiold's 
triumphal  journey  to  Stockholm — thus  completing  for 
the  first  time  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  the  circumnaviga- 
tion of  Asia  and  Europe — is  matter  of  too  recent  occur- 
rence to  demand  more  than  a  passing  notice  in  these  pages. 

It  is  said  that  the  total  expenses  of  this  most  suc- 
cessful expedition  amount  to  about  $125,000,  consider- 
ably less  than  half  the  cost  of  Captain  Nares'  recent 
Polar  exploration,  which  resulted  in  almost  complete 
failure.  Of  the  first  mentioned  sum  the  King  of  Swe- 
den, the  Russian  banker,  M.  Sibirikoff,  and  Mr.  Dick- 
son, the  Gothenburg  merchant,  each  contributed  about 
$35,000.  The  remainder  was  paid  by  the  Swedish 
exchequer.     Professor  Nordenskiold  has  nearly  finished 


THE    GRAND   DUCHY   OF  FIX  LAX  D.  237 

writing  his  history  of  "  The  Voyage  of  the  Vega,"  which 
will  be  published  simultaneously  in  Sweden,  Russia, 
Germany,  Italy,  France,  England,  and  America.  I 
know  of  but  one  other  narrative  of  exploration  which 
has  ever  in  the  history  of  literature  received  more 
varied  linguistic  and  national  honors  at  its  birth,  and 
that  is  Stanley's  "  Through  the  Dark  Continent,"  which 
he  informed  me — in  the  summer  of  1878,  at  Paris — had 
been  published  simultaneously  in  nine  European  lan- 
guages and  one  Asiatic. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note,  by  the  way,  that  the  north- 
east passage  around  Europe  and  Asia — only  just  ac- 
complished by  Nordenskiold  —  was  prophesied  over 
three  hundred  years  ago  by  Gerard  Mercator,  distin- 
guished by  the  cartographical  projection  which  goes 
by  his  name.  This  famous  old  mathematician  and 
geographer  thought,  also,  that  such  an  exploration 
would  tend  to  open  commercial  routes  between  China 
and  Western  Europe.  His  exact  words  are — "  The 
voyage  to  Cathaio  [China]  by  the  east  is  doubtless 
very  easy,  and  I  have  oftentimes  marvelled  that,  being 
so  happily  begun,  it  hath  been  left  off,  and  the  course 
changed  into  the  west,  after  that  more  than  half  of  the 
voyage  was  discovered."  He  also  speaks  of  a  great  bay 
(being  bordered  by  ice  on  two  sides  and  land  on  the 
third,  it  might  almost  be  styled  a  "  bay  ")  beyond  the 
island  of  Nova  Zembla,  into  which  "  there  fall  great 
rivers,  which  passing  through  the  whole  country  of 
Serica  [modern  China  and  Siberia,]  and  being,  as  I 
think,  navigable  with  great  vessels   into   the  heart  of 


238  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

the  continent,  may  be  an  easy  means  whereby  to  traffic 
for  all  manner  of  merchandise,  and  transport  them  out 
of  Cathaio,  Mangi,  Mien,  and  other  kingdoms  there- 
abouts, into  England." 

From  Helsingfors  one  may  go  by  steamer  to  Wiborg 
in  twelve  hours,  or  by  rail,  a  distance  of  195  miles,  in 
about  ten  hours.  Before  leaving  Stockholm  I  had  de- 
cided upon  the  latter  route  of  travel.  The  railway  line 
passes  through  the  most  charming  and  picturesque  re- 
gion, a  wooded  country  intersected  by  rivers  and  dotted 
with  lakes.  The  interior  of  Finland  is  for  the  most  part 
a  vast  plateau.  Its  entire  area  of  147,000  square  miles 
is  more  abundantly  supplied  with  lakes  and  swamps 
than  any  other  part  of  the  world,  excepting  possibly 
some  districts  of  British  America.  Hence  the  origin  of 
its  name  Fen-land,  or  swamp-land,  or  region  of  lakes, 
as  some  prefer  to  render  it  in  English.  The  country 
of  Holland  has  also  its  superficial  character  indicated 
in  the  etymology  of  its  name,  to  wit,  marsh-land. 
Fully  one-half  of  Finland  is  covered  with  forests  ;  and 
the  exports  are  accordingly  chiefly  timber  and  Tar. 
Excellent  post-roads,  with  regular  rows  of  verst-poles 
(a  verst  is  about  two-thirds  of  an  English  mile),  lead 
in  every  direction.  Two-wheeled  carrioles,  similar  to 
those  used  in  Scandinavia,  are  also  employed  in  Fin- 
land, and  post-houses  (dagbog  and  all)  are  conveniently 
situated  and  of  a  character  to  render  this  species  of 
travelling  quite  as  comfortable  here  as  in  Norway  and 
Sweden.  The  interior  of  the  country,  however,  is  so 
intersected  and  broken  up  by  the  vast  number  of  in- 


THE   GRAND  DUCHY  OF  FINLAND.         239 

land  lakes  which  shoot  out  their  winding  arms  and 
branches  in  every  direction  that,  while  offering  the 
greatest  facilities  for  internal  navigation,  they  render 
land  travelling  very  circuitous. 

As  in  Scandinavia,  the  greater  part  of  the  population 
of  Finland  are  peasants,  who  are  accustomed  to  make 
their  own  clothes  and  furniture.  They  are  affectionate, 
honest,  hospitable,  and  peaceable,  though  in  ancient 
times  they  were,  according  to  Prichard,  as  savage  as 
the  Lapps.  They  were  then  divided  into  tribes  which 
were  generally  at  war  with  each  other.  The  origin  of 
the  Finns,  like  that  of  the  Lapps,  has  been  a  matter  in 
great  dispute  among  ethnologists,  though  if  we  are  to 
accept  the  recently-expressed  theory  of  an  anonymous 
encyclopedia  magnate,  they  came  originally  from  Asia. 
"  One  of  the  least  expected  results  of  the  decipher- 
ment of  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  cruciform  in- 
scriptions is  that  the  most  ancient  language  found  in 
this  style  of  writing  is  strongly  allied  to  the  idioms  of 
the  Uralo-Finnic  race,  and  that  many  of  its  words  and 
the  greater  part  of  its  grammatical  forms  particularly 
resemble  the  Finlandish.  It  is  therefore  conjectured 
that  the  Finnic  race  was  in  possession  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates  basin  more  than  4,000  years  ago ;  and  in 
retracing  the  ideographs  of  the  cruciform  to  the  objects 
they  originally  represented,  it  is  found  that  the  region 
where  this  system  of  writing  was  invented  was  a  north- 
ern clime  ;  at  least  one  totally  different  from  that  of 
Babylonia  and  Assyria,  destitute  among  other  things, 
of  large  feline  carnivora  and  of  palm  trees." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Kalevala,  the  Great  National  Epic. 

The  Helsingfors  library  contains  a  rich  store  of 
Finnish  national  sagas  or  tales  and  runes  or  songs. 
These  are  generally  of  a  mythological  character,  though 
the  folk-lore — what  may  be  styled  the  literature  of  the 
ancient  observances  and  customs,  and  also  ideas,  pre- 
judices, and  superstitions  of  the  common  people — is 
very  largely  represented.  The  value  of  these  as  illus- 
trating remote  periods  of  a  nation's  history,  has  been 
amply  shown  in  Germany  by  the  brothers  Grimm. 
The  songs  are  lyrical  in  form  and  are  usually  sung  to 
the  accompaniment  of  a  species  of  harp  with  five 
strings.  A  collection  of  them  was  first  made  in  1835, 
by  a  native  of  Helsingfors  named  Elias  Lonnrot.  For 
years  this  poetical  and  patriotic  enthusiast  wandered 
from  place  to  place  in  the  most  remote  districts,  living 
with  the  peasantry  and  taking  down  from  their  lips  all 
that  they  knew  of  their  popular  songs.  He  thus  event- 
ually succeeded  in  collecting  23,000  verses,  which  he 
arranged  as  systematically  as  possible,  and  then  pub- 
lished them  under  the  title  of  Kalevala,  the  ancient 
name  of  Finland. 

This  great  poem,  which  is  justly  regarded  as  a  na- 


* 
KALE  VALA,  THE  GREA  T  NA  TIONAL  EPIC.     241 

tional  epic,  contains  fifty  runes  or  songs,  written  in 
eight-syllabled  trochaic  verse.  Its  story  is  briefly  de- 
scribed as  a  struggle  between  the  good  and  the  bad 
powers  of  the  universe,  the  subject  of  so  many  Oriental 
epics,  with  numerous  episodes,  and  the  introduction  of 
mythology  and  magic.  Speaking  of  the  merits  of  this 
poem,  Professor  Max  Miiller,  a  most  excellent  author- 
ity, says  :  "  From  the  mouths  of  the  aged  an  epic  poem 
has  been  collected,  equalling  the  Iliad  in  length  and 
completeness  ;  nay — if  we  can  forget  for  a  moment  all 
that  we  in  our  youth  learned  to  call  beautiful — not  less 
beautiful.  A  Finn  is  not  a  Greek,  and  a  Wainaimoinen 
was  not  a  Homer.  But  if  a  poet  may  take  his  colors 
from  that  nature  by  which  he  is  surrounded  ;  if  he  may 
depict  the  men  with  whom  he  lives,  Kalevala  possesses 
merits  not  dissimilar  from  those  of  the  Iliad,  and  will 
claim  its  place  as  the  fifth  national  epic  of  the  world, 
side  by  side  with  the  Ionian  songs,  with  the  Mahabd- 
rata,  the  Shanameh,  and  the  Niebelunge." 

The  Kalevala  has  been  translated  into  Swedish, 
French,  German  and  Russian.  A  few  specimens  or 
selections  have  also  been  rendered  into  English.  The 
general  scope,  style  and  metre  of  this  great  heroic 
poem  have  been  imitated  by  our  revered  poet,  Longfel- 
low, in  his  unique  American  epic,  the  "  Song  of  Hia- 
watha," the  nearest  approach  to  a  real  national  epic 
that  we  have  ever  had.  Longfellow  is  a  great  admirer 
of  the  Scandinavian  literatures  and  when  in  Europe 
in  1836,  he  travelled  extensively  in  these  countries  and 
acquainted  himself  with  their  languages.     We  have  in 


242  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

both  Kalevala  and  Hiawatha  birch  forests,  roaring 
waters,  and  deep  green  lakes.  Similar  likewise  are  the 
heroic  deeds,  the  moving  adventures,  and  the  quaint 
legends. 

I  cull  a  few  specimen  verses  from  the  original  of 
Kalevala.  You  will  notice  the  frequent  repetition  of 
the  same  letter  :  this  is  owing  largely  to  the  fact  that 
there  are  but  nineteen  letters  in  the  Finnish  alphabet. 

"  Vaka  vanha  Wainaimoinen  : 
Sen  varsin  valehtelitki, 
Ei  sinna  silloin  nahty, 
Kan  on  merta  kynnettihin, 
Meren  kolkot  kuokittihin, 
Kala-havat  kaivettihin.  ' 
Kuuhutta  kuletettaissa 
Aurinkoa  autellaissa 
Otavoa  ojennettaissa, 
Taivod  tahitettaissa, 
Miekkojasi,  mieliasi, 
Tauriasi,  tuumiasi, 
Waan  kuitenki,  kaikitenki 
Lahe  en  miekan  mittelohon 
Sinun  kanssasi  katala, 
Kerallasi  kehno  rankka." 

An  idea  of  the  matter  and  manner  of  this  grand 
composition  is  furnished  in  a  translation  (as  exact  as 
the  differences  of  genius  and  idiom  in  the  two  languages 
will  permit)  of  a  few  verses  of  a  song  entitled  "  The 
Wooing." 


*&• 


"  The  next  morn  the  Maiden  Aino, 
Sister  fair  of  Youkahainen, 
Sought  betimes  the  birchen  forest 
Brooms  to  bind  and  twigs  to  gather, 
Choosing  out  the  speckled  birchwood  ; 


KA  LE  VALA,  THE  GREA  T  NA  TIONAL  EPIC.     243 

One  to  bring  her  father,  binds  she, 
One  a  gift  to  bring  her  mother, 
For  her  brother  binds  a  third 'one. 

Then  by  woodpath  hastening  homeward, 
Flying  from  the  forest  darkness, 
As  she  gains  the  bushy  border, 
Lo,  before  her  Wainaimoinen, 
Deftly  spying  out  the  maiden 
In  her  trimly  buckled  bodice. 
Thus  the  ancient  bard  addressed  her : 

'  Wear  not,  lovely 'maid,  for  others, 
Only  wear  for  me,  O  maiden, 
Glossy  pearls  upon  thy  shoulders, 
Shining  cross  upon  thy  bosom  ; 
Bind  with  silk  for  me  thy  tresses, 
Plait  for  me  thy  braidlets  golden.' 

But  the  maiden  quickly  answered  : 
'  Nevermore  for  thee  or  others 
Will  I  all  my  life  remaining 
Deck  my  hair  with  silken  ribbon. 
Or  with  golden  cross  my  bosom  ; 
Nay,  I  need  no  more  the  trinkets 
Hither  brought  by  ship  or  shallop  ; 
I  will  dress  in  humble  raiment ; 
All  the  food  I  ask  a  bread  crust ; 
With  my  father  dwell  forever, 
In  the  cabin  with  my  mother.' " 

Hiawatha  also  indulges  in  the  luxury  of  a  "  wooing," 
which  I  reproduce  here  that  the  reader  may  contrast 
and  compare  the  Finnish  and  the  American  poems. 

"  '  As  unto  the  bow  the  cord  is 
So  unto  the  man  is  woman, 
Though  she  bends  him,  she  obeys  him, 
Though  she  draws  him,  yet  she  follows, 
Useless  each  without  the  other  ! ' 

Thus  the  youthful  Hiawatha 
Said  within  himself  and  pondered, 
Much  perplexed  by  various  feelings, 


244  ArOPSA',  LAPP,  AND  FINN 

Listless,  longing,  hoping,  fearing, 
Dreaming  still  of  Minnehaha, 
Of  the  lovely  Laughing  Water, 
In  the  land  of  the  Dacotahs." 

All  persons  intending  to  enter  the  public  service  of 
Finland  must  learn  Finnish,  which  by  imperial  manifesto 
is  to  become  the  official  language  of  the  country  after 
the  year  18S3.  Until  quite  recently  Swedish  was  the 
language  of  the  upper  classes.  This  accounts  in  part 
for  the  general  poverty  of  the  national  literature.  Here- 
tofore it  has  been  almost  solely  employed  in  works  of  a 
religious  and  moral  character.  The  New  Testament 
and  Psalter  was  published  in  1548,  and  the  entire  Bible 
in  1642.  There  are  now  publications  in  the  native 
tongue  on  almost  every  branch  of  scientific  research. 
These  are,  however,  mainly  translations  or  adaptations 
from  the  works  of  German  or  French  scholars.  An  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  translate  Schiller  and  even 
Shakespeare  into  Finlandish,  though  with  what  success  I 
did  not  learn.  Two  professors  at  the  university  of 
Helsingfors  deliver  their  lectures  in  Finnish  ;  and  I 
understand  that  Professor  Lonnrot  of  this  university, 
the  same  who  rescued  from  oblivion  the  fragmentary 
songs  of  the  Kalevala,  and  now  upwards  of  eighty  years 
of  age,  has  just  published  a  valuable  work  on  folk-lore 
entitled  "  A  Collection  of  Ancient  Finnish  Popular  Le- 
gends." Weekly  Finlandish  newspapers  circulate  among 
the  peasantry,  who  welcome  with  avidity  any  addition 
to  the  limited  stock  of  printed  literature  adapted  to  their 
intellectual  capacity. 


KALE  VALA,  THE  GREA  T  NA  TIONAL  EPIC,     245 

The  Finns  having  succeeded  so  admirably  with 
poetry,  the  reader  will  naturally  wish  to  know  whether 
they  have  not  made  progress  in  any  other  of  the  fine 
arts.  ;  Well,  they  have  done  something  with  the  drama, 
more  with  music,  but  most  with  painting  and  sculpture. 
I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  very  creditable  display  of 
the  Finnish  artists  at  the  Paris  International  Exhibition 
of  1878.  But  I  have  not  space  here  to  do  them  justice, 
for  my  journey  draws  me  onward  to  the  end. 

Wiborg  I  found  to  be  the  third  city  of  Finland  in 
point  of  population.  It  is  situated  at  the  end  of  a 
large  bay  where  a  review  of  the  Russian  Baltic  fleet  is 
generally  held  every  summer.  There  is  nothing  in 
Wiborg  calculated  to  especially  interest  strangers,  who 
in  fact,  only  visit  it  en  route  to  the  celebrated  falls  of 
Imatra,  some  forty  miles  distant  to  the  north.  These 
falls  may  be  reached  both  by  canal  and  post-road.  It 
is  best  perhaps  to  go  by  one  and  return  by  the  other. 
Every  morning  a  small  steamer  leaves  Wiborg  for  Lake 
Saima,  "  the  thousand  isles  " — recalling,  but  not  resem- 
bling, those  in  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  Lake  Saima  is 
nearly  as  large  as  Lake  Wenern  in  Sweden.  The 
Saima  Canal  is  a  grand  triumph  of  engineering  skill, 
being  in  some  respects  not  unlike  the  Gotha  Canal, 
to  which  I  devoted  a  recent  chapter.  It  was  con- 
structed at  a  cost  of  $2,000,000,  by  a  Swedish  engineer, 
in  1S56.  The  lake  is  256  feet  above  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land, and  it  has  therefore  been  found  necessary  to  con- 
struct as  many  as  twenty-eight  locks  to  withstand  so 
great  a  pressure  of  water  as  this   difference    in    level 


246  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

naturally  implies.  These  locks  are  most  substantially 
built  of  the  famous  granite  rock  of  Helsingfors.  From 
a  town  on  the  lake  we  are  forwarded  by  diligence  to 
Imatra,  where  I  find  an  immense  but  well-kept  hotel. 

The  falls  have  been  misnamed,  since  there  is  no 
perpendicular  descent  of  water;  they  deserve  rather 
to  be  designated  as  rapids.  They  vividly  recalled 
those  in  the  Niagara  River  below  the  suspension 
bridges.  They  are  formed  by  the  rushing  of  a  small 
river  between  steep  granite  walls.  The  violence  and 
roar  of  the  water  are  appalling.  The  rapids  gradually 
slope  through  a  distance  of  about  half  a  mile,  the  whole 
amount  of  descent  being  sixty  feet.  A  capital  view 
of  them  is  obtained  from  the  side  of  the  river  opposite 
the  hotel.  The  style  of  transport  thither  is  calculated, 
however,  to  try  weak  nerves  and  giddy  heads,  for  you 
are  drawn  across  the  seething,  tempestuous  flood  in 
a  basket  slung  on  wire  ropes.  The  river  must  have 
been  of  much  greater  volume  ages  ago,  for  the  limits 
of  its  old  bed  are  clearly  defined  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
rapids.  Here  there  are  several  pot-holes,  containing 
boulders  which  cannot  have  gyrated  for  centuries. 

The  countries  of  Northwestern  Europe  are  very 
rich  in  such  interesting  geological  curiosities.  In  ad- 
dition to  those  I  have  already  described,  there  are 
on  the  southern  coast  of  Norway,  about  25  miles  west 
cf  Christiania  fiord,  three  giant  caldrons  which  were 
discovered  and  dug  out  in  1873.  They  lie  side  by  side, 
about  150  feet  above  the  sea.  The  largest  is  23  feet 
deep,  30  inches  in  diameter  at  the  top,  and  five   feet 


KALE  VALA,  -THE  GREA  T  NA  TIONAL  EPIC.     2tf 

at  the  bottom.  Though  possibly  produced  in  a  differ- 
ent manner,  the  holes  above  mentioned  are  similar 
to  those  in  the  Glacier  Garden  at  Lucerne,  which  are 
due  to  the  action  of  water.  This,  flowing  through  the 
rifts  in  the  glacier  that  ages  past  covered  the  rock,  set 
in  motion  the  stones  beneath  whereby  the  huge  holes 
were  hollowed  out.  The  geological  formation  at  Lu- 
cerne, if  I  remember  aright,  is  sandstone.  But  pot- 
holes have  been  found  in  hard  limestone  and  quartz, 
as  at  Soleure,  at  the  foot  of  the  Jura  Mountains,  where, 
on  removing  a  mass  of  superincumbent  sand  and 
gravel  to  prepare  for  some  quarrying  operations,  the 
rock  beneath  was  found  to  be  quite  smooth  and  inter- 
sected with  old  water  channels.  The  excavation  being 
continued,  a  number  of  enormous  basins,  filled  with 
great  stones,  were  laid  bare. 

There  is  capital  trout  fishing  above  the  "  falls  "  of 
Imatra.  Lake  trout  twenty  pounds  in  weight  have 
been  taken  from  some  of  the  pools.  Graylings  of  two 
and  three  pounds'  weight  also  abound.  At  a  village  in 
this  vicinity  on  Lake  Saima,  there  is  a  church  to  which, 
on  a  Sunday,  come  the  Finns  for  miles  around,  the 
women  often  appearing  in  their  gay  national  costumes. 
It  is  very  amusing  to  watch  these  simple  countryfolk 
going  to  or  from  the  church  in  long,  queer-shaped  boats, 
which  are  rowed  by  about  twenty  women,  while  almost 
an  equal  number  of  men  lounge  and  lazily  smoke  their 
pipes  in  the  stern.  In  the  Zuyder  Zee  of  the  Nether- 
lands one  may  see  many  similar  and  quite  as  ridicu- 
lous interchanges  of  occupation  between  the  sexes. 


248  NORSK,  LAPP,  AND  FINN. 

The  return  to  Wiborg  by  carriole  was  over  a  good 
road  and  through  a  picturesque  region.  The  following 
morning  I  took  the  train  for  St.  Petersburg,  and  with 
its  arrival,  four  hours  later,  in  the  capital  city  of  all  the 
Russias,  my  summer's  wanderings  through  Denmark, 
Norway,  Lapland,  Sweden,  and  Finland  were  safely 
and  happily  completed. 

And  now,  at  the  conclusion  of  my  recital,  whatever 
my  defects  of  description  may  be,  I  can  safely  say  that 
I  have  withstood  the  temptation  which  presents  itself 
to  every  traveller,  namely,  that  of  giving  a  dramatic,  not 
to  say  an  unnaturally  theatrical,  tinge  to  personal  ex- 
periences. To  wander  through  countries  and  among 
nations  that  are  new  to  one,  is  almost  like  stepping 
upon  another  planet  and  finding  races  akin,  yet  not  akin, 
to  the  human  family  to  which  one  belongs.  To  exag- 
gerate the  impressions  thus  made,  to  devise  scenes,  to 
create  circumstances,  and  to  weave  together  into  arti- 
ficial combinations  events  which  actually  occurred — 
these  are  the  allurements  which  beset  even  the  con- 
scientious traveller  when  he  begins  to  tell  his  tale.  My 
claim  is  that  I  have  resisted  these  temptations.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  yield  to  them.  The  most  prosaic 
mode  of  life  acquires  a  little  aureole  of  its  own  when 
we  see  it  unfolding  itself  under  conditions,  and  with 
environments,  that  to  us  are  unfamiliar. 

In  the  lands  of  the  Ear  North  much  was  new  and 
strange  to  me.  Their  attractiveness  was  inherent  in 
them  and  was  not  due  to  any  charms  loaned  them  by 


KALE  VALA,  THE  GREA  T  NA  TIONAL  EPIC.     249 

my  imagination.  If,  therefore,  I  have  failed  to  express 
that  attractiveness  in  language  proportioned  to  the  ef- 
fect it  wrought  in  me,  the  suffering  reader  will  not  fail 
to  recall  that  the  author  is  alone  to  blame. 


INDEX, 


Abo,  appearance  and  history  of,  231,  232. 
Adolphus,  Gustavus,  his  sarcophagus,  209, 

stuffed  skin  of  his  horse,  211. 
bronze  statue  of,  226. 
Agershuus,  castle  of,  36,  38. 

Amalienborg,  the  principal  royal  residence  in  Copenhagen,  22. 
Andersen,  Hans  Christian,  15. 

Angels,  distinguished,  Louis  XIV.  and  George  II.,  21S. 
Antiquities,  law  in  regard  to  them  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  210. 
Antlers,  their  cost,  45. 
Arctic  Circle,  eider  ducks,  87. 

scenery  from,  to  Tromsoe,  88. 

luxurious  menu  within  it,  92. 

slumber  under  difficulties,  93. 

repassing  the  circle,  176. 

an  Arctic  Circle  habit,  186. 
Arctic  Ocean,  apropos  reflections,  115. 

appropriate  athletism,  117. 
Arjepluog,  excitement  I  create  at,  180. 
Askersund,  zinc  mine  near,  195. 
Avidjaur,  deserted  aspect  of,  1S2. 

B. 

Bangkok,  the  Venice  of  the  East,  206. 
Beliefs  of  childhood  rudely  shattered,  82. 
Berg,  Magnus,  the  famous  artificer,  28. 
Bergen,  approach  to,  58. 

resemblance  of  its  former  night-watchmen  to  the  present 
New  York  police,  59. 

dried  codfish,  cod-liver  oil,  and  herring,  60. 

jachts,  61. 


252  INDEX. 

Bernadotte,  ashes  of,  209. 

Bessemer,  process,  used  in  Sweden,  189. 

superiority  of  the  Bessemer  steel  rail,  190. 
Bible,  the  Devil's,  215. 
Bodo,  town  of,  79. 
Boelappen  and  Soelappen,  12S. 
Brahe,  Tycho,  lineal  descendants  of,  203. 
Brains,  apparent  instinct  without,  94. 
Bull,  Ole,  62. 

c. 

Caldrons,  giant,  246,  247. 
Canal,  the  Gotha,  221. 

entire  length  of,  222. 
the  Saima,  245. 
Canon,  wild  one  in  Norway,  46. 

Cape  Horn  and  North  Cape  compared  and  contrasted,  118,  119. 
Carriole,  40-42. 

its  variations,  51,  238. 
Cart,  a  model  Swedish,  1S1. 

another,  184. 
Charles  XII.,  his  sarcophagus,  209. 

his  wig,  211. 
Christian  IX.  and  family,  23. 
Christiania,  Norwgeian  antiquities  in,  9. 
fiord  of,  36. 

derivation  of  name,  37. 
Christiansand,  64,  65. 
Church,  old,  47. 

damages  by  lightning,  84. 
Cicero  de  Officiis,  215. 
Cladonis  rangiferina,  160. 
Coasting  steamers,  the  Norwegian,  121. 
Codex  Argenteus,  the,  200. 
Cod-liver  oil,  how  and  where  made,  91,  92. 
Congress,  the  Universal  Ethnographical,  197,  198. 
Copenhagen,  bird's-eye  view  of,  13. 
meaning  of  name,  14. 
quaintness  of  architecture,  14. 
horse-cars,  omnibuses,  and  droschkies,  15. 


INDEX.  253 

Copenhagen,  education,  science,  and  art,  17. 

various  institutions  described,  18. 

churches,  19. 

resemblance  of  citizens  to  the  Viennese  and  Paris- 
ians, 20. 

the  Museum  of  Northern  Antiquities,  24. 

Ethnographical  Museum,  26. 

from  Copenhagen  to  Reikiavik,  33. 
Coronation  Chairs,  29. 
Cufic  Coins,  2IO. 

Culture,  miniature  embodiment  of,  179,  1S0. 
Cuspidor,  unknown  in  Norway,  104. 
Cyanea  capillata,  93,  94. 

D. 

Dagbog,  42. 

Dalecarlia,  mines  in,  1S9. 

the  people  of,  192,  193. 
Danes,  appearance  and  manners  of,  16. 

industry  and  enterprise  of,  31. 
Danish  Kings,  chronological  collection  of,  24. 
Dannemora,  iron  mines  of,  194. 
Dawkins,  Professor  Boyd,  26. 
Denmark,  routes  thither,  1. 

characteristics  of  the  islands  of,  4. 
climate,  4. 
origin  of  name,  5. 
religious  toleration,  7. 

what  is  indispensable  to  service,  apprenticeship,  and  mat- 
rimony, 7. 
land  of  antiquities,  S. 
elementary  education,  17. 
exports,  30. 
public  debt,  31. 
colonies,  31. 
Dialogus  creaturarum  moralizatus,  201. 
Djurgarden,  the,  219. 
Domkyrka,  the,  199. 
Drottningholm,  the  palace  of,  204. 
Druses,  the  Holy  Book  of  the,  201. 


254  INDEX. 

Dudley,  the  Earl  of,  121. 

Duelling,  the  old  form  of  in  Scandinavia,  212. 

Dukes,  five  hundred  in  France,  109. 

E. 

Edda,  an  old  Icelandic,  201. 

Education,  compulsory  in  Norway,  102. 

Elfkarley  Cataracts,  193. 

Elsinore,  35. 

Emigration  from  Norway  to  the  United  States,  101,  102. 

Emotions,  arctic  and  equatorial,  78. 

Eric,  a  Swedish  king,  231. 

Evolutionless  monsters,  77. 

Expectoration,  conscienceless,  in  Norway,  104. 


Fahlu,  a  favorite  Swedish  liquor,  1S6. 
Falun,  191. 

descending  the  mine  there,  192. 

decrease  of  the  copper  yield,  192. 
Faroe  Islands,  32. 
Finkel,  a  native  Lapp  brandy,  131. 
Finland,  its  interior,  238. 

national  Sagas  in  the  Helsingfors  Library,  240. 
Finnish  to  be  the  official  language  after  18S3,  244. 
Finmark,  summer  heat  and  daylight  in,  85. 

visible  growth  of  peas  and  barley,  85. 
the  Finnish  "  Post,"  95. 
Finns,  vicissitudes  of,  232. 

character  and  history  of,  239. 

as  artists,  245. 
Fisheries,  Seal,  at  Spitzbergen  and  Nova  Zembla,  8r. 
Folgefond,  glaciers  of,  53. 

Frederick  V.,  bronze  equestrian  statue  of,  23. 
Fredericksburg,  appearance  of  country  on  approaching,  11. 
Fyen,  route  from,  to  Copenhagen,  1. 

G. 

Galdhopiggen,  Mount,  45. 


INDEX.  255 

Gefle,  how  situated,  190. 

Gellivara,  a  rich  but  useless  iron  mine  in  Swedish  Lapland,  195,  196. 

Gentleman,  the  genus  universal,  107,  108. 

George  III.,  his  sister's  influence  on  the  Potato,  99. 

Gesegnete  mahlzeit  in  Germany,  106. 

Glacier  garden  at  Lucerne,  247. 

Gospels,  the  four  in  the  Gothic  language,  200. 

Latin  manuscript  of,  214. 
Gothenburg,  225. 

built  on  the  Dutch  plan,  226. 

exports  of,  226. 
Greenland,  32. 
Grimm,  the  Brothers,  240. 
Gulf  Current,  action  of  near  the  Loffodens,  84. 

H. 

Hamburg,  importance  as  a  commercial  city,  2. 
statistics  of  emigration  from,  2. 
cause  of  the  latter,  3. 
Hammarby,  the  country  house  of,  201. 
Hammerfest,  the  most  northerly  town  in  the  world,  89. 
business  transacted  there,  90. 
Sea-Lapps,  129. 
Helsingfors,  the  capital  of  Finland,  230. 

its  appearance  and  institutions,  233,  234. 
Herring,  irregularity  of  the  fisheries,  81. 

decrease  of,  82. 
Hestmando,  mountain  of,  78. 
"  Hiawatha,"  Song  of,  comparison  between  it  and  the  Kalevala,  241. 

quotation  from,  243. 
Horn,  Oldenborg,  28. 
Hornafvan,  Lake,  177. 
Hospitality,  Norwegian,  170,  171. 
Hoyland,  the  notorious  criminal,  38,  39. 
"  Hut,"  an  Englishman's  palatial,  168,  169. 

I. 

Iceland,  32,  33. 

Imatra,  the  Falls  of,  246. 


256  INDEX. 


J- 

Jaggvik,  consisting  of  two  houses  and  a  few  barns,  177. 

obstacles  in  the  way  of  retiring  for  the  night,  177. 
Jones,  Inigo,  27. 
Junkersdalen,  171,  172. 

magnificent  canons,  172. 
Jurgensen,  Jules,  his  famous  watches,  15. 
Justedal  Range,  the,  72. 

K. 

Kalevala,  the,  or  Finnish  Rune,  translated  into  Swedish,  French, 
German  and  Russian,  241. 
quotation  from,  242. 
Kattegat,  35,  36. 
Kiel,  route  from,  to  Copenhagen,  1. 

description  of,  3. 
Kissing  in  Iceland,  17. 
Knivskjaellodde,  headland  of,  114. 

meaning  of  name,  117. 
Kongens  Nytorv,  12. 
Kronborg,  the  fortress  of,  35, 
Kungsgrottan,  225. 

L. 

Langeland,  the  first  view  of  Denmark,  4. 
Lapland,  the  most  northerly  country  in  Europe,  124. 
short  summers  and  long  twilight,  124,  125. 
ancient  description  of,  125. 
the  mythology  of,  148,  149. 
unprogressiveness,  149. 

the  schoolmaster  and  the  missionary,  149,  150. 
necessity  of  the  reindeer  to  Lapland,  159. 
Lapps,  their  low  stature,  126. 

conjectural  history,  127,  128. 
their  numbers,  128. 
two  grand  classes,  128. 
a  touching  scene,  130,  131. 
no  divorce  among  them,  133. 


INDEX  257 

Lapps,  polygamy  in  vogue,  134. 

how  they  enjoy  fish  and  blubber,  135,  136. 
how  they  kill  whales,  136. 
power  of  endurance,  137,  13S. 
lack  of  beauty,  13S. 
interior  of  a  tent,  145. 
their  language,  146. 
a  Finnish  dialect,  147. 

Sea  Lapps  and  Mountain  Lapps,  150,  1 5 1, 
the  race  dying  out,  151. 
causes,  152. 

how  their  wealth  is  computed,  158. 
even  tenor  of  their  lives,  162. 
Lars,  by  Bayard  Taylor,  extract  from,  213,  214. 
Lemmings  in  Norway,  98,  99. 
Linnaeus,  the  great  Botanist,  199. 
his  journal,  201. 
his  country  house,  201. 
his  vanity,  202. 

his  work  on  Finnish  folk-lore,  244. 
Loffodens,  the  famous  fishing  banks  of  the,  79. 
catching  codfish,  80. 

Alpine  character  of  the  coast  scenery,  83. 
mildness  of  the  climate,  84. 
Lonnrot,  Elias,  240. 

Lost  souls,  King  David  and  St.  Paul,  218. 
Lubeck,  route  thence  to  Copenhagen,  1. 
described,  2. 

M. 

Maelstrom,  the  sad  truth  about  the,  82,  83. 

Maeso,  the  fisherman's  hospital  there,  120,  121. 

Mageroe,  or  Lean  Island,  113,  114. 

Maupertuis  on  the  Lapps,  140. 

Menus,  two  Swedish,   174,  178. 

Mercator,  Gerard,  his  prediction  three  centuries  ago,  237. 

Mexico,  the  Aztec  Venice  of  the  West,  207. 

Midnight  Sun,  route  taken  to  see  it,  40. 

effects  of,  on  vegetation,  86. 
Mo,  Sunday  at,  73. 


258  INDEX. 

Mo,  boating,  75. 

two  negresses  who  prove  that  extremes  meet,  76. 
Mountain  Lapps,  the,  140,  143. 

food,  141. 

a  Mountain  Lapp  family,  142,  143. 
Muller,  Professor  Max,  on  the  Finnish  Epic,  241. 

N. 

Naerofiord,  49,  51. 

National  Museum  of  Stockholm,  its  statues  and  medallions,  210. 

Nature  and  Art,  comparison,  71. 

thwarted,  11 3. 
Navigation,  Polar,  to  be  improved,  119. 

Necropoli  as  pleasure  parks,  similarity  in  use  of,  by  Sweden,  Nor- 
way, and  Turkey,  67. 
Nordenskiold,  Professor,  119. 

his  career,  234,  237. 
Nordland,  Province  of,  72. 

wandering  Lapps,  143,  144. 
North  Cape,  emotions  on  visiting,  62,  70. 
unfreezable  sea,  85. 
description  of  the  Cape,  113,  120. 
predatory  birds,  120. 
Northern  Antiquities,  collection  of,  in  Copenhagen,  24. 

five  leading  periods  represented,  25. 
Norway,  Mormonism  forbidden  there,  7. 
many  burial  mounds,  10. 
king  of,  37,  38. 
boldness  of  scenery,  50. 
the  Fatherland  of  Waterfalls,  57. 
patron  saint,  66. 
northern  verge,  68,  69. 
a  sportsman's  paradise,  70. 
learned  clergy,  74. 
gill-net  system  of,  80. 
fisheries,  Si. 
agriculture,  85. 
ancient  moraines,  97. 
forests,  99. 


INDEX.  259 

Norway,  slowness  of  the  nation,  100. 
inertia,  101. 

compulsory  education,  102. 
attractive  house  interiors,  103. 
small  respect  to  women,  104. 
meals,  105. 

bad  table  manners,  106,  107. 
form  of  government,  10S. 
lack  of  aristocracy,  Tog. 
the  parliament,  log,  110. 
the  king's  power,  no,  III. 
foreign  trade,  in. 

population  and  general  character  of  the  people,   III,  112. 
difficulties  of  travelling,  122. 
the  largest  and  the  smallest  men  in  Europe,  126. 
Norwegians  ignorant  of  their  own  country,  164. 
a  Norwegian  interior,  167. 

o. 

Occupations     interchanged    at    the    Zuyder  Zee,  and  among    the 

Finns,  247. 
Odde,  53. 

Odin,  worship  of,  at  Old  Upsala,  igS. 
Gsrsted,  the  birthplace  of,  4. 
Olaf,  Norway's  patron  saint,  66. 
Om,  its  dolmen  or  burial  grotto,  8. 
Oscar  II.,  66. 

his  ascension  of  Nordkop,  114. 

obelisk  raised  to  him,  165. 
Osculation,  male,  in  Denmark,  16,  17. 


Paleolithic  implements,  26. 

Pemmican,  made  from  reindeer  flesh,  160. 

Philippe,  Louis,  exile  of,  7g. 

Photography  at  the  North  Cape,  1 16. 

Pitea,  1S5. 

Platen,  Baron  von,  the  Swedish  engineer,  223. 

Pliny  of  Sweden,  the,  201. 

Polar  Sea,  the  sailless,  115. 


260  INDEX. 

Polar  Star,  decoration  of  the,  109. 
Pomerans,  a  favorite  Swedish  liquor,  186. 
Postilion,  a  female,  41. 
Potatoes  universal  in  Norway,  99. 

Preservation   of  Antiquities,  Societies  for,  in  Denmark,  Germany, 
Norway,  and  Sweden,  9. 

R. 

Reflections,  parting,  248,  249. 

Regalia  of  Norway,  38. 

Reindeer,  their  appearance  at  a  distance,  154. 

usefulness  of  the  deer-hound,  155. 

reindeer  milk,  156. 

reindeer  cheese,     157. 

a  wonderful  deer,  158. 

multiform  uses  of  the  reindeer,  161. 
Renadt,  a  favorite  Swedish  liquor,  1S6. 
Riddarsholm  Kirke,  the  imperial  mausoleum,  208. 
Ringdalfoss  waterfall,  55. 
Rocknas,  description  of,  1S5. 
Roeskilde,  sight  of,  6. 

history,  6.     ■ 

the  kjokken-modding  near  by,  8. 
Rognan,  the  town  of,  165. 

appearance  of,  166. 
Rosenborg,  palace  of,  27. 
Roxen,  Lake,  223. 
Russian  Traders  at  Hammerfest,  90. 

in  Lapland,  136,  137. 


Sala,  silver  mines  at,  195. 
Scandinavia,  stations  in,  42,  43. 

mastication,  results  of,  187. 

does  not  corroborate  the  evolution  theory,  188. 
Schiller,  attempt  to  translate  him  into  Finnish,  244. 
Schleswig  Holstein,  what  German  archa:o]ogists  found  there,  9. 
Schubeler,  Dr.,  the  Norwegian  scientist,  S5. 
Serchthrift,  the,  125. 


INDEX.  26l 

Shakespeare,  attempt  to  translate  him  into  Finnish,  244. 

Siberian  agriculture,  85. 

Siemens,  Dr.,  on  the  electric  light,  86. 

Sigtuna,  the  village  of,  204. 

Skager  Rak,  36. 

Smorgos-Brod,  what  it  is,  186. 

Soderby,  the  mine  there,  194. 

Soderkoping,  the  town  of,  223. 

Sogne  Fiord,  48. 

Soro,  description  of,  5. 

the  eight  hundred  year  old  church  near  by,  5. 
Steam-hammer,  a  large,  190. 
Stockholm,  the  Venice  of  the  North,  206. 

its  Grand  Hotel  one  of  the  best  in  Europe,  207. 
meaning  of  the  name,  207. 
interior  of  the  palace,  208. 
the  National  Museum,  209. 
plenty  of  places  of  amusement,  218. 
Stonehenge,  meaning  of,  201. 
Stones,  the  Mora,  201. 
Strauss,  Johann,  219. 

Suicide  and  drunkenness,  small  amount  of,  in  Norway,  102,  103. 
Summer  Tivoli  at  Copenhagen,  20. 
Surgeon,  the  most  northerly  in  the  world,  121. 
Svartisen,  snow  mountains  of,  72. 
Sweden,  my  first  supper  there,  174. 

peculiarity  of  the  farm-houses,  175. 
another  bill  of  fare,  178. 
bad  table  manners,  187. 
mines,  189. 

mines  the  most  important  department  of  Swedish  indus- 
tries, 195. 
statistics  of  mineral  industries,  196. 
first  book  ever  printed  in,  201. 
extensive  libraries  in  large  towns  of,  214. 
colony  of  St.  Bartholomew,  229. 
Sweden  and  Norway  contrasted,  227,  229. 
Swedenborg,  Emmanuel,  his  house  in  Stockholm,  215. 

his  doctrines  now  the  creed  of  the  Church  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  216. 


262  INDEX. 

Swedenborg,  sketch  of  his  career,  216,  217. 

his  remarkable  transition  to  Spiritualism  at  the  age 
of  fifty-five,  217. 

spirits  who  appeared  to  him,  2i3. 
Swedish  peculiarities,  186,  187. 
Sympathy  between  the  Equator  and  the  Pole,  89,  90. 


Telford,  Thomas,  221. 

Terminus,  the  septentrional,  93. 

Thomson,  the  poet,  on  the  gypsey  Lapps,  151. 

Thorwaldsen,  15. 

the  Museum,  21,  22. 
sketch  of  his  career,  21. 
Time,  difficult  to  keep  run  of,  in  Tromsoe,  89. 
Tings,  19S. 

Tolly,  Barclay  de,  230. 
Torghattan,  71. 

Travelling,  my  principle  in,  122. 
Trollhattan,  meaning  of  name,  224 

stupendous  falls  there,  224,  225. 
Tromsoe,  88. 
Trondjhem,  65. 

its  old  cathedral,  66. 

from,  to  Sundsvall,  68. 
Trout-fishing,  capital,  247. 

u 

Uhland,  mines  in,  189. 

Ulphilas,  Bishop,  200. 

Uppernavik,  the  extreme  inhabited  part  of  the  world,  89. 

Upsala,  Old,  antiquarian  interest  of,  197. 

abundance  of  mounds,  19S. 

historical  associations  of  Upsala,  199. 

the  university,  200. 

V. 

Vasa,  Gustavus,  suggested  in  Dalecarlia,  193. 
the  Mora  Stones,  201. 


INDEX.  263 

Vase,  a  wondrous,  28,  29. 

Vessels  entering  Copenhagen,  30. 

Vikings'  ships,  wreck  of  one,  one  thousand  years  old,  found  near 

Christiania,  9,  II. 
Vor  Frelser's  Kirke,  19. 
Vor  Frue  Kirke,  19. 

W. 

Wapenbrak,  the,  201. 

Wedding,  a  Lapponian,  132,  133,  134,  135. 

Wettern,  Lake,  224. 

Wharf,  the  Riddarsholmen,  205. 

Wiborg,  245. 

Women  not  mourners  in  Norway  and  Denmark,  68. 

in  Stockholm,  219. 
Worsaae,  J.  J.  A.,  the  famous  archreologist,  25. 
Wrangel,  the  Swedish  General,  203. 
Wrestlers,  the,  by  Molin,  211. 


Zuyder  Zee,  the,  247. 


z. 


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Table-Talk  and  Opinions  of  Na- 
poleon Buonaparte. 

Vathek :  An  Oriental  Romance. 
By  William  Beckford. 

The  King  and  the  Commons.  A 
Selection  of  Cavalier  and  Puritan 
Songs.  Edited  by  Professor 
Morley. 

Words  of  Wellington  :  Maxims  and 
Opinions  of  the  Great  Duke. 

Dr.  Johnson's  Rasselas,  Prince  of 
Abyssinia.     With  Notes. 

Hazlitt's  Round  Table.  With  Bio- 
graphical Introduction. 

The  Religio  Medici,  Hydriotaphia, 
and  the  Letter  to  a  Friend.  By 
Sir  Thomas  Browne,  Knt. 

Ballad  Poetry  of  the  Affections.  By 
Robert  Buchanan. 

Coleridge's  Christabel,  and  other 
A  Case  containing  12  Volumes,  price  31.S. 


Imaginative  Poems.  With  Preface 
by  Algernon  C.  Swinburne. 

Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters,  Sen- 
tences, and  Maxims.  With  In- 
troduction by  the  Editor,  and 
Essay  on  Chesterfield  by  M.  de 
Ste.-Beuve,  of  the  French  Aca- 
demy. 

Essays  in  Mosaic.  By  Thos.  Ballan- 
tyne.  . 

My  Uncle  Toby  ;  his  Story  and  his 
Friends.  Edited  by  P.  Fitz- 
gerald. 

Reflections ;  or,  Moral  Sentences  and 
Maxims  of  the  Duke  de  la  Roche- 
foucald. 

Socrates :  Memoirs  for  English 
Readers  from  Xenophon's  Memo- 
rabilia.    By  Edw.  Levien. 

Prince  Albert's  Golden  Precepts. 

6d.  ;  or  the  Case  separately,  price  3s.  6d. 


Beauty  and  the  Beast.  An  Old  Tale  retold,  with  Pictures  by 
E.  V.  B.      4to,  cloth  extra.     10  Illustrations  in  Colours.     12s.  6d. 

Begum's  Fortune  (The):  A  Neiv  Story.  By  Jules  Verne. 
Translated  by  W.  H.  G.  Kingston.  Numerous  Illustrations. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  Js.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  $s. 

Ben  Hur :  A  Tale  of  the  Christ.     By  L.  Wallace.     Crown 

8vo,  6j. 
Beumers'  German  Copybooks.     In  six  gradations  at  ^d.  each. 

Biart  (Lucieii).  See  "Adventures  of  a  Young  Naturalist," 
"  My  Rambles  in  the  New  World,"  "The  Two  Friends,"  "  Involun- 
tary Voyage." 

Bickersteth's  Hymnal  Companion  to  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
may  be  had  in  various  styles  and  bindings  from  id.  to  21s.  Price 
List  and  Prospectus  will  be  forwarded  on  application. . 

Bickersteth  (Rev.  E.  H,  M.A.)  The  Reef  and  other  Parables. 

I  vol. ,  square  8vo,  with  numerous  very  beautiful  Engravings,  2s.  6d. 
The  Clergyman  in  his  Home.     Small  post  8vo,  \s. 

The    Master's    Home-  Call ;    or,   Brief    Memorials  of 

Alice  Frances  Bickersteth.    20th  Thousand.    32mo,  cloth  gilt,  is. 

The  Master's    Will.      A  Funeral  Sermon   preached 
on  the  Death  of  Mrs.  S.  Gurney  Buxton.     Sewn,  6d.  ;  cloth  gilt,  is. 

A   2 


Sampson  Lozc,  Mars  ton,  &  Co.'s 


Bickersteth  (Rev.  E.  H.,  M.A.)    The  Shadow  of  the  Rock.     A 
Selection  of  Religious  Poetry.     i8mo,  cloth  extra,  2s.  6d. 

The   Shadowed   Home   and,    the   Light  Beyond.      7th 

Edition,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  5^. 
Biographies  of  the  Great  Artists  (Illustrated).  Each  of  the 
following  Volumes  is  illustrated  with  from  twelve  to  twenty  full-page 
Engravings,  printed  in  the  best  manner,  and  bound  in  ornamental 
cloth  cover,  3-r.  6d.  Library  Edition,  bound  in  a  superior  style, 
and  handsomely  ornamented,  with  gilt  top ;  six  Volumes,  enclosed 
in  a  cloth  case,  with  lid,  £1  lis.  6d.  each  case. 
Hogarth.  •     Fra  Bartolommeo.        Sir  David  Wilkie. 

Turner.  Giotto.  Van  Eyck. 

Rubens.  Raphael.  Figure    Painters     of 

Holbein.  Van  Dyck  and  Hals.        Holland. 

Tintoretto.  Titian.  Michel  Angelo. 

Little  Masters   of    Rembrandt.  Delarocheand  Vernet. 

Germany.  Leonardo  da  Vinci.       Landseer. 

Fra  Angrelico  and    Gainsborough     and      Reynolds. 
-    Masaccio.  Constable. 

"  Few  things  in  the  wsy  of  small  books  upon  great  subjects,  avowedly  cheap  and 
necessarily  brief,  have  been  hitherto  so  well  done  as  these  biographies  of  the  Great 
Masters  in  painting."  —  Times. 

"  A  deserving  series." — Edinburgh  Review. 

"  Most  thoroughly  and  tastefully  edited." — Spectator. 

Black  (  Wm. )  Three  Feathers.     Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Lady  Silverdale's  Sweetheart,  and  other  Stories.     1  vol., 

small  post  8vo,  6s. 

Kihneny :  a  Novel.     Small  post  8vo,  cloth,  6s. 

In  Silk  Attire.    3rd  Edition,  small  post  8vo,  65-. 

A  Daughter  of  Heth.     nth  Edition,  small  post  8vo,  6s. 

Sunrise.     15  Monthly  Parts,  is.  each. 


Black/nore  (R.  D.)  Lorna  Doone.     10th  Edition,  cr.  8vo,  6^. 

Alice  Lorraine.     1  vol.,  small  post  8vo,  6th  Edition,  6s. 

Clara  Vaughan.     Revised  Edition,  6s. 

Cradock  Noivell.     New  Edition,  6s. 

Cripps  the  Carrier.     3rd  Edition,  small  post  8vo,  6s. 

Mary  Anerley.     New  Edition,  6s. 

Erema  ;  or,  My  Bather's  Sin.      With  1 2  Illustrations, 


small  post  8vo,  6s. 

Blossoms  from  the  King's  Garden  :  Sermons  for  Children.  By 
the  Rev.  C.  Bosanquet.    2nd  Edition,  small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Blue  Banner  (The);  or,  The  Adventures  of  a  Mussulman,  a 
Christian,  and  a  Pagan,  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades  and  Mongol 
Conquest.  Translated  from  the  French  of  Leon  Cahun.  With 
Seventy-six  Wood  Engravings.  Imperial  i6mo,  cloth,  gilt  edges, 
7j.  6d. ;  plainer  binding,  5^. 


List  of  Publications. 


Boy's  Froissart  (T/ie).     7s.  6d.     See  "  Froissart." 

Boy's   King  Arthur    {The).      With    very   fine    Illustrations. 

Square  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  Js.  6d.     Edited  by  Sidney 

Lanier,  Editor  of  "  The  Boy's  Froissart." 
Brazil :  the  Amazons,  and  the  Coast.     By  Herbert  H.  Smith. 

With  115  Full-page  and  other  Illustrations.     Demy  8vo,  650  pp.,  21s. 

Brazil  and  the  Brazilians.  By  J.  C.  Fletcher  and  D.  P. 
Kidder.     9th  Edition,  Illustrated,  Svo,  z\s. 

Breton  Folk :  An  Artistic  Tour  in  Brittany.  By  Henry 
Blackburn,  Author  of  "Artists  and  Arabs,"  "Normandy  Pictu- 
resque," &c.  With  171  Illustrations  by  Randolph  Caldecott. 
Imperial  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gflt  edges,  21  J. 

Bricks  without  Strata.     By  the  Author  of  "  A  Fool's  Errand." 

Crown  Svo,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  7-f.  6d. 
British  Goblins :  Welsh  Folk-Lore,  Fairy  Mythology,  Legends, 
and  Traditions.  By  Wirt  Sykes,  United  States  Consul  for  Wales. 
With  Illustrations  by  J.  H.  Thomas.  This  account  of  the  Fairy 
Mythology  and  Folk-Lore  of  his  Principality  is,  by  permission,  dedi- 
cated to  H.R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales.     Second  Edition.     Svo,  iSj. 

Buckle  [Henry  Thomas)  The  Life  and  Writings  of.    By  Alfred 

Henry  Huth.     With  Portrait.     2  vols.,  demy  Svo. 
Burnaby  {Capt.)     See  "On  Horseback." 

Burnham  Beeches  [Heath,  F.  G.).  With  numerous  Illustrations 
and  a  Map.     Crown  Svo,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  y.  6d.     Second  Edition. 

Butler  {  W.  F.)  The  Great  Lone  Land ;  an  Account  of  the  Bed 
River  Expedition,  1869-70.  With  Illustrations  and  Map.  Fifth  and 
Cheaper  Edition,  crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  "]s.  6d. 

The  Wild  North  Land ;  the  Story  of  a  Winter  Journey 

with  Dogs  across  Northern  North  America.      Demy  Svo,  cloth,  with 
numerous  Woodcuts  and  a  Map,  4th  Edition,  \%s.     Cr.  Svo,  Js.  6d. 

Akim-foo  :  the  History  of  a  Failure.     Demy  Svo,  cloth, 


2nd  Edition,  \bs.     Also,  in  crown  Svo,  "]s.  6d. 

/~*ADOGAN    {Lady   A.)     Lllustrated   Games    of  Patience 
*-'     Twenty- four  Diagrams  in  Colours,  with  Descriptive  Text.     Foolscap 
4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  3rd  Edition,  \2s.  6d. 

Caldecott  (A5.).     See  "  Breton  Folk." 

Celebrated  Travels  and  Travellers.     See  Verne. 

Changed  Cross  {The),  and  other  Religious  Poems.    161110,  2s.  6d. 

Child  of  the  Cavern  {The)  ;  or,  Strange  Doings  Underground. 
By  Jules  Verne.  Translated  by  W.  H.  G.Kingston.  Numerous 
Illustrations.     Sq.  cr.  8vo,  gilt  edges,  "js.   6d.  ;  cl.,  plain  edges,  5-r. 


Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s 


Child's  Play,  with  16  Coloured  Drawings  by  E.  V.  B.  Printed 
on  thick  paper,  with  tints,  "js.  6d. 

New.     By  E.  V.  B.     Similar  to  the  above.     See  New. 

A  New  and  Cheap  Edition  of  the  two  above,  con- 
taining 48  Illustrations  by  E.  V.  B.,  printed  in  tint,  handsomely 
bound,  3-r.  6d. 

Children's  Lives  and  How  to  Preserve  Them  ;  or,  The  Nursery 
Handbook.     By  W.  Lomas,  M.D.     Crown  Svo,  cloth,  -,s. 

Choice  Editions  of  Choice  Books.  2s.  6d.  each,  Illustrated  by 
C.  W.  Cope,  R.A.,  T.  Creswick,  R.A.,  E.  Duncan,  Birket 
Foster,  J.  C.  Horsley,  A.R.A.,  G.  Hicks,  R.  Redgrave,  R.A., 
C.  Stonehouse,  F.  Tayler,  G.  Thomas,  H.  J.  Townshend, 
E.  H.  Wehnert,  Harrison  Weir,  &c. 

Bloomfield's  Farmer's  Boy. 
Campbell's  Pleasures  of  Hope. 
Coleridge's  Ancient  Mariner. 
Goldsmith's  Deserted  Village. 
Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakefield. 
Gray's  Elegy  in  a  Churchyard. 


Keat's  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 


Milton's  L'Allegro. 

Poetry  of  Nature.     Harrison  Weir. 

Rogers'  (Sam.)  Pleasures  of  Memory. 

Shakespeare's  Songs  and  Sonnets. 

Tennyson's  May  Queen. 

Elizabethan  Poets. 

Wordsworth's  Pastoral  Poems. 


"  Such  works  are  a  glorious  beatification  for  a  poet." — Athenmutn. 

Christ  in  Song.     By  Dr.  Philip  Schaff.     A  New  Edition, 

Revised,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  6s. 
Cobbett  ( William).     A   Biography.     By   Edward   Smith.     2 

vols.,  crown  8vo,  25^. 

Confessions  of  a  Frivolous  Girl  {The) :  A  Novel  of  Fashionable 
Life.     Edited  by  Robert  Grant.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Cradle- Land  of  Arts  and  Creeds  ;  or,  Nothing  New  under  the 
Sun.  By  Charles  J.  Stone,  Barrister-at-law,  and  late  Advocate, 
High  Courts,  Bombay.      8vo,  pp.  420,  cloth,  14.C 

Cripps  the  Carrier.     3rd  Edition,  6s.     See  Blackmore. 
Cruise  of  H.M.S.  "  Challenger"  (The).     By  W.  J.  J.  Spry,  R.N. 

With  Route  Map  and  many  Illustrations.    6th  Edition,  demy8vo,  cloth, 
i8j.      Cheap  Edition,  crown  8vo,  some  of  the  Illustrations,  "js.  6a'. 

Curious  Adventures  of  a  Field  Cricket.  By  Dr.  Ernest 
Candkze.  Translated  by  N.  D'Anvers.  With  numerous  fine 
Illustrations.     Crown  Svo,  gilt,  7-f.  6d.;  plain  binding  and  edges,  51. 

F)ANA  (R.  LL.)  Two  Years  before  the  Mast  and  Twenty-Four 

■*-^     years  After.      Revised  Edition,  with  Notes,  i2mo,  6s. 

Daughter  (A)  of  Heth.     By  W.  Black.     Crown  Svo,  6jt. 
Day  of  My  Life  (A)  ;  or,  Every  Day  Experiences  at  Eton. 

By  an  Eton  Boy,  Author  of  "About  Some  Fellows."     i6mo,  cloth 

extra,  2s.  6J.     6th  Thousand. 


List  of  Publications. 


Diane.     By  Mrs.  Macquoid.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Dick  Cheveley :  his  Fortunes  and  Misfortunes.  By  W.  H.  G. 
Kingston.  350  pp.,  square  i6mo,  and  22  full-page  Illustrations. 
Cloth,  gilt  edges,  Js.  6d. ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  $s. 

Dick  Sands,  the  Boy  Captain.  By  Jules  Verne.  With 
nearly  100  Illustrations,  cloth,  gilt,  lev.  6d.  ;  plain  binding  and  plain 
edges,  5-r. 

Dictionary  {General)  of  Archccology  and  Antiquities.  From 
the  French  of  E.  Bosc.  Crown  Svo,  with  nearly  200  Illustrations, 
1  or.  6d. 

Dodge  {Mrs.  M.)  Hans  Drinker;  or,  the  Silver  Skates.  An 
entirely  New  Edition,  with  59  Full-page  and  other  Woodcuts. 
Square  crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  $s.  ;  Text  only,  paper,  Is. 

Dogs  of  Assise.  A  Legal  Sketch-Book  in  Black  and  White. 
Containing  6  Drawings  by  Walter  J.  Allen.  Folio,  in  wrapper,  6s.  Set. 

~piGHT  Cousins.     See  Alcott. 
Eighteenth     Century    Studies.      Essays     by    F.     Hitch  man. 

Demy  Svo,  iSj. 
Elementary  Education  in  Saxony.     By  J.  L.  Bashford,  M.A  , 
Trin.    Coll.,   Camb.      For  Masters    and    Mistresses    of    Elementary 
Schools.     Sewn,  u. 

Elinor  Dryden.     By  Mrs.  Macquoid.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Embroidery  {Handbook  of).  By  L.  Higgin.  Edited  by  Lady 
Marian  Alford,  and  published  by  authority  of  the  Royal  School  of 
Art  Needlework.  With  16  page  Illustrations,  Designs  for  Borders, 
&c.      Crown  Svo,  5.?. 

English  Philosophers.     Edited  by  Iwan  Muller,  M.A.,  New 

College,  Oxon.  A  Series  of  Volumes  containing  short  biographies 
of  the  most  celebrated  English  Philosophers,  to  each  of  whom  is 
assigned  a  separate  volume,  giving  as  comprehensive  and  detailed  a 
statement  of  his  views  and  contributions  to  Philosophy  as  possible, 
explanatory  rather  than  critical,  opening  with  a  brief  biographical 
sketch,  and  concluding  with  a  short  general  summary,  and  a  biblio- 
graphical appendix.  The  Volumes  will  be  issued  at  brief  intervals,  in 
square  161110,  3s.  6d.,  containing  about  200  pp.  each. 

The  following  are  in  the  press  : — 
Bacon.     Professor  Fowler,  Professor  of  Logic  in  Oxford. 
Berkeley.     Professor  T.  II.  Green,   Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy, 

Oxford. 
Hamilton.     Professor  Monk,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  Dublin. 

[Ready. 
J.  S.  Mill.     Helen  Taylor,  Editor  of  "The  Works  of  Buckle/'  &c. 


8  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s 

English  Philosophers  {continued) : — 

Mansel.     Rev.  J.  H.  Huckin,  D.D.,  Head  Master  of  Repton. 
Adam    Smith.      J.    A.    Farrer,    M.A.,    Author    of    "Primitive 

Manners  and  Customs."  [Ready. 

Hobbes.  A.  H.  Gosset,  B.A.,  Fellow  of  New  College,  Oxford. 
Bentham.  G.  E.  Buckle,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  All  Souls',  Oxford. 
Austin.     Harry  Johnson,  B.A.,  late  Scholar  of  Queen's  College, 

Oxford. 
Hartley.        }  E.    S.  Bowen,   B.A.,  late    Scholar  of  New  College, 
James  Mill. )  Oxford.  \Rcady. 

Shaftesbury,  j  Fowler. 

Hutcheson.     ) 
Arrangements  are  in  progress  for  volumes  on  Locke,  Hume,  Paley,  Reid,  &°c. 

Episodes  of 'French  History.     Edited,  with  Notes,  Genealogical, 
Historical,  and  other  Tables,  by  Gustave  Masson,  B.A. 
i.   Charlemag-ne  and  the  Carloving-ians. 

2.  Louis  XI.  and  the  Crusades. 

3.  Francis  I.  and  Charles  V. 

4.  Francis  I.  and  the  Renaissance. 

The  above  Series  is  based  upon  M.  Guizot's  "History  of  France." 
Each  volume  is  choicely  Illustrated,  with  Maps,  2s.  6d. 

Erema  ;  or,  My  Father's  Sin.     See  Blackmore. 

Etcher  {The).      Containing   36    Examples    of   the    Original 

Etched-work  of  Celebrated  Artists,  amongst  others:  Birket  Foster, 
J.  E.  Hodgson,  R.A.,  Colin  Hunter,  J.  P.  Heseltine,  Robert 
W.  Macbeth,  R.  S.  Chattock,  H.  R.  Robertson,  &c,  &c. 
Imperial  4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  it.  12s.  6d. 

Eton.  See  "  Day  of  my  Life,"  "  Out  of  School,"  "  About  Some 
Fellows." 

Evans  (C.)   Over  the  Hilts  and  Far  Away.     By  C.  Evans. 

One  Volume,  crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  10s.  6d. 

A  Strange  Friendship.     Crown  Svo,  cloth,  $s. 

Eve  of  Saint  Agnes  (The).  By  John  Keats.  Illustrated  with 
Nineteen  Etchings  by  Charles  O.  Murray.  Folio,  cloth  extra,  2ls. 
An  Edition  de  Luxe  on  large  paper,  containing  proof  impressions,  has 
been  printed,  and  specially  bound,  3/.  is. 

T^ARM  Ballads.     By  Will  Carleton.     Boards,  1^. ;   cloth, 
-*        gilt  edges,  is.  6d. 

Fern  Paradise  ( The) :  A  Plea  for  the  Culture  of  Ferns.  By 
F.  G.  Heath.  New  Edition,  entirely  Rewritten,  Illustrated  with 
Eighteen  full-page,  numerous  other  Woodcuts,  including  8  Plates  of 
Ferns  and  Four  Photographs,  large  post  Svo,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  \2s.  6d. 
Sixth  Edition.     In  12  Parts,  sewn,  is.  each. 


List  of  Publications. 


Fern  World  {The).     By  F.  G.  Heath.     Illustrated  by  Twelve 

Coloured  Plates,  giving  complete  Figures  (Sixty-four  in  all)  of  every 
Species  of  British  Fern,  printed  from  Nature  ;  by  several  full-page 
Engravings.     Cloth,  gilt,   6th  Edition,  \Zs.  (yd. 

"  Mr.  Heath  has  really  given  us  good,  well-written  descriptions  of  our  native 
Ferns,  with  indications  of  their  habitats,  the  conditions  under  which  they  grow 
naturally,  and  under  which  they  may  be  cultivated." — Atheitceum. 

Few  (A)  Hints  on  Proving  Wills.     Enlarged  Edition,  is. 

First  Steps  in  Conversational  French  Grammar.  By  F.  Julien. 
Being  an  Introduction  to  "  Petites  Lecons  de  Conversation  et  de 
Grammaire,"  by  the  same  Author.      Fcap.  8vq,  128  pp.,  is. 

Flooding of  the  Sahara  (The).     See  Mackenzie. 

Food  for  the  People  ;    or,  Lentils  and  other   Vegetable   Cookery. 

By  E.  E.  Orlebar.     Third  Thousand.     Small  post  8yo,  boards,  is. 
Fools  Errand  {A).    By  One  of  the  Fools.    Author  of  Bricks 

without  Straw.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  numerous  Illustrations, 

8j.  6d. 
Footsteps  of  the  Master.     See  Stowe  (Mrs.  Beecher). 

Forbidden  Land  (A) :  Voyiges  to  the  Corea.  By  G.  Oppert. 
Numerous  Illustrations  ani  Maps.     Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  z\s. 

Four  Lectures  on  Electric  Induction.  Delivered  at  the  Royal 
Institution,  187S-9.  By  J.  E.  H.  Gordon,  B.A.  Cantab.  With 
numerous  Illustrations.     Cloth  limp,  square  l6mo,  3s. 

Foreign  Countries  and  the  British  Colonies.  Edited  by  F.  S. 
Pulling,  M.A.,  Lecturer  at  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  and  formerly 
Professor  at  the  Yorkshire  College,  Leeds.  A  Series  of  small  Volumes 
descriptive  of  the  principal  Countries  of  the  World  by  well-known 
Authors,  each  Country  being  treated  of  by  a  Writer  who  from 
Personal  Knowledge  is  qualified  to  speak  with  authority  on  the  Subject. 
The  Volumes  average  180  crown  8vo  pages  each,  contain  2  Maps 
and  Illustrations,  crown  8vo,  y-  6d. 

The  folloiuing  is  a  List  of  the  Volumes  : — 
Denmark  and  Iceland.     By  E.  C.  Otte,  Author  of  "  Scandinavian 

History,"  &c. 
Greece.     By  L.    Sergeant,  B.A.,   Knight  of  the   Hellenic   Order 

of  the  Saviour,  Author  of  "  New  Greece." 
Switzerland.       By     W.    A.     P.     Coolidge,     M.A.,     Fellow    of 

Magdalen  College,  Editor  of  The  Alpine  Journal. 
Austria.     By  D.  Kay,  F.R.G.S. 
Russia.      By    W.    R.  Morfill,     M.A.,    Oriel    College,    Oxford, 

Lecturer  on  the  Ilchester  Foundation,  &c. 
Persia.     By  Major-Gen.  Sir  F.J.  Goldsmid,  K.C.S.I.,  Author  of 

"  Telegraph  and  Travel,"  &c. 
Japan.     By  S.  Mossman,  Author  of  "  New  Japan,"  &c. 
Peru.     By  Clements  H.  Markham,  M.A.,  C.B. 
Canada.      By     W.     Fraser    Rae,     Author    of    "Westward    by 

Rail,"  &c. 


io  Sampson  Low,  Marsfon,  6°  Co.'s 

Foreign  Countries  {continued) : — 

Sweden  and  Norway.     By  the  Rev.  F.  II.  Woods,  M.A.,  Fellow 

of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford. 
The  West  Indies.     By  C.  II.  Eden,  F.R.G.S.,  Author  of  "  Frozen 

Asia,"  &c. 
New  Zealand. 
France.     By  Miss  M.  Roberts,   Author  of  "  The  Atelier  du  Lys," 

"  Mdlle.  Mori,"  &c. 
Egypt.     By  S.  Lane  Poole,  B.A.,  Author  of  "The  Life  of  Edward 

Lane,"  &c. 
Spain.     By  the  Rev.    Wentworth  Webster,  M.A.,   Chaplain  at 

St.  Jean  de  Luz. 
Turkey-in-Asia.     By  J.  C.  McCOAN,  M.P. 
Australia.     By  J.   F.   Vesey  Fitzgerald,  late    Premier  of  New 

South  Wales. 
Holland.     By  R.  L.  Poole. 
Franc  (Maude  Jeane).     The  following  form  one  Series,  small 

post  8vo,  in  uniform  cloth  bindings,  with  gilt  edges: — 

F //lily's  Choice.     $s. 

Hall's  Vineyard.     4s. 

— John's  Wife  :  a  Story  of  Life  in  South  Australia.     4s. 

Marian  ;  or,  the  Light  of  Some  One's  Home.     5s. 

Silken  Cords  and  Lron  Fetters.     4s. 

Vermont  Vale.     $s. 

Minnie's  Mission.     4s. 

Little  Mercy.     $s. 

Beatrice  Melton's  Discipline.     4s. 

Froissart  (The  Boy's).  Selected  from  the  Chronicles  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Spain,  &c.  By  Sidney  Lanier.  The  Volume  is 
fully  Illustrated,  and  uniform  with  "The  Boy's  King  Arthur."  Crown 
8vo,  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

SHAMES  of  Patience.     See  Cadogan. 

Gentle  Life  (Queen  Edition).     2  vols,  in  1,  small  4to,  10s.  6d. 

THE     GENTLE     LIFE    SERIES. 

Price  6s.  each  ;  or  in  calf  extra,  price  10s.  6d.  ;  Smaller  Edition,  cloth 

extra,  2s.  6d. 
A  Reprint  (with  the  exception  of  "  Familiar  Words"  and  "Other 
People's  Windows  "')  has  been  issued  in  very  neat  limp  cloth  bindings 
at  2s.  6d.  each. 
The  Gentle  Life.     Essays  in  aid  of  the  Formation  of  Character 

of  Gentlemen  and  Gentlewomen.     21st  Edition. 

"  Deserves  to  be  printed  in  letters  of  gold,  and  circulated  in  every  house." — 
Chambers'  yor.ruaL 


List  of  Publications.  1 1 


The  Gentle  Life  Series  {continued) : — 

About  in  the  World.     Essays  by  Author  of  "  The  Gentle  Life." 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  open  it  at  any  page  without  finding  some  Handy  idea. "—  Morn ■ 
ittg  Post. 

Like   unto  Christ.     A  New  Translation  of  Thomas  a  Kempis' 

"  De  Imitatione  Christi."     2nd  Edition. 

"  Could  not  be  presented  in  a  more  exquisite   form,  for  a  more  sightly  volume  was 
never  seen." — Illustrated  London  News. 

Familiar  Words.  An  Index  Verborum,  or  Quotation  Hand- 
book. Affording  an  immediate  Reference  to  Phrasei  and  Sentences 
that  have  become  embedded  in  the  English  language.  4th  and 
enlarged  Edition.     6j-. 

"The  most  extensive  dictionary  of  quotation  we  have  met  with." — .Votes  and 
Queries. 

Essays  by  Montaigne.     Edited  and  Annotated  by  the  Author 

of  "The  Gentle  Life."     With  Portrait.     2nd  Edition. 

"We  should  be  glad  if  any  words  of  ours  could  help  to  bespeak  a  large  circula- 
tion for  this  handsome  attractive  book." — Illustrated  Times. 

The  Countess  of  Pembroke's  Arcadia.     Written  by  Sir  Philip 
Sidney.     Edited  with  Notes  by  Author  of  ' '  The  Gentle  Life. "    js.  del. 
"All  the  best  things  are  retained  intact  in  Mr.  Friswell's  edition." — Examiner. 

The  Gentle  Life.     2nd  Series,  8th  Edition. 

"There  is  not  a  single  thought  in  the  volume  that  does  not  contribute  in  some 
measure  to  the  formation  of  a  true  gentleman." — Daily  News. 

The  Silent  Hour:  Essays,  Original  and  Selected.  By  the 
Author  of  "The  Gentle  Life."     3rd  Edition. 

"All  who  possess  'The  Gentle  Life'  should  own  this  volume." — Standard. 

Half- Length  Portraits.  Short  Studies  of  Notable  Persons. 
By  J.  Hain  Friswell. 

Essays  on  English  Writers,  for  the  Self-improvement  of 
Students  in  English  Literature. 

"  To  all  who  have  neglected  to  read  and  study  their  native  literature  we  would 
certainly  suggest  the  volume  before  us  as  a  fitting  introduction." — Examiner. 

Other  People's  Windows.     By  J.  Hain  Friswell.     3rd  Edition. 

"The  chapters  are  so  lively  in  themselves,  so  mingled  with  shrewd  views  of 
human  nature,  so  full  of  illustrative  anecdotes,  that  the  reader  cannot  lailtobe 
amused. " — JId>  ning  Post. 

A  Man's  Thoughts.     By  J.  Hain  Friswell. 


German   Primer.     Being    an    Introduction  to    First   Steps  in 
German.     By  M.  T.  Preu.     2s.  6d. 

Getting  On  in  the   World ;  or,  Hints  on  Success  in  Life.     By 
W.  Mathews,  LL.D.  Small  post  8vo,  cloth,  2s.  6d. ;  gilt  edges,  3.5-.  6d. 

Gilpin's   Forest  Scenery.      Edited  by  F.   G.   Heath.      Large 

post  Svo,  with  numerous  Illustrations.      Uniform  with    "The    Fern 
World,"  \2s.  (3d.     In  6  monthly  parts,  2s.  each. 


12  Sampson  Low,  Marsion,  6°  Co.'s 


Gordon  (J.  E.  H).  See  "  Four  Lectures  on  Electric  Induc- 
tion," "  Physical  Treatise  on  Electricity,"  &c. 

Gouffe.  The  Royal  Cookery  Book.  By  Jules  Gouffe  ;  trans- 
lated and  adapted  for  English  use  by  Alphonse  Gouffe,  Head 
Pastrycook  to  her  Majesty  the  Queen.  Illustrated  with  large  plates 
printed  in  colours.     161  Woodcuts,  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  2/.  2s. 

Domestic  Edition,  half-bound,  10s.  6d. 

"  By  far  the  ablest  and  most  complete  work  on  cookery  that  has  ever  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  gastronomical  world." — Pall  Mail  Lazette. 

Great  Artists.     See  "  Biographies." 

Great  Historic  Galleries  of  England  (The).  Edited  by  Lord 
Ronald  Gower,  F.S.A.,  Trustee  of  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 
Illustrated  by  24  large  and  carefully-executed  permanent  Photographs 
of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  Pictures  by  the  Great  Masters.  Imperial 
4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  36^. 

Great  Musicians  (The).     A  Series  of  Biographies  of  the  Great 
Musicians.     Edited  by  F    Hueffer. 
1    Wagner.     By  the  Editor.     5.  Rossini,  and  the  Modern  Italian 

2.  Weber.       By    Sir    Julius    '        School.     By  H.  Sutherland 

Benedict.  Edwards. 

3.  Mendelssohn.     By  Joseph    6.  Marcello.     By  Arrigo  Boito. 

Bennett.  7.  Purcell.    By  H.  W.  Cummings. 

4.  Schubert.   By  H.F.Frost. 

*#*  Dr.  Hiller  and  other  distinguished  writers,  both  English  and 
Foreign,  have  promised  contributions.  Each  Volume  is  complete  in 
itself.     Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  y. 

Guizofs  History  of  France.  Translated  by  Robert  Black. 
Super-royal  8vo,  very  numerous  Full-page  and  other  Illustrations.  In 
8  vols.,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  each  24s. 

"  It  supplies  a  want  which  has  long  been  felt,  and  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  all 
students  of  history." — Times. 

Masson's  School  Edition.      The 

History  of  France  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Outbreak  of  the 
Revolution;  abridged  from  the  Translation  by  Robert  Black,  M. A., 
with  Chronological  Index,  Historical  and  Genealogical.  Tables,  &c. 
By  Professor  GUSTAVE  Masson,  B.A.,  Assistant  Master  at  Harrow 
School.  With  24  full-page  Portraits,  and  many  other  Illustrations. 
1  vol.,  demy  8vo,  600  pp.,  cloth  extra,  \os.  6d. 

Guizofs  Histoty  of  England.    In  3  vols,  of  about  500  pp.  each, 
containing  60  to  70  Full-page  and  other  Illustrations,  cloth  extra,  gilt, 

245  each. 

"  For  luxury  of  typography,  plainness  of  print,  and  beauty  of  illustration,  these 
volumes,  of  which  but  one  has  as  yet  appeared  in  English,  will  hold  their  own 
against  any  production  of  an  age  so  luxurious  as  our  own  in  everything,  typography 
not  excepted." — Times. 

Guyon  (Mde.)  Life.     By  Upham.     6th  Edition,  crown  8vo,  6*. 


List  of  Publications.  1 3 


JLTANBBOOK  to  the  Charities  of  London.     See  Low's. 


of  Embroidery  ;  which  see. 

to  the  Principal  Schools  of  England.     See  Practical. 


Half-Hours  of  Blind  Man's  Holiday  ;  or,  Summer  and  Winter 

Sketches  in  Black  and  White.     ByW.  W.  Fenn,  Author  of  "After 

Sundown,"  &c.     2  vols.,  cr.  8vo,  2\s. 
Hall (IV.  IV.)  How  to  Live  Long;  or,   1408  Health  Maxims, 

Physical,   Mental,    and   Moral.       By  W.    W.    Hall,    A.M.,    M.D. 

Small  post  8vo,  cloth,  2s.     Second  Edition. 
Hans  Brinker;  or,  the  Silver  Skates.     See  Dodge. 
Harper's  Monthly  Magazine.     Published  Monthly.     160  pages, 

fully  Illustrated,     is.      With  two  Serial  Novels  by  celebrated  Authors. 
"  '  Harper's  Magazine  '  is  so  thickly  sown  with  excellent  illustrations  that'to  count 

them  would  be  a  work  of  time  ;  not  that  it  is  a  picture  magazine,  for  the  engravings 

illustrate  the  text  after  the  manner  seen  in  some  of  our  choicest  editions  de  luxe." — 

St.  James's  Gazette. 

"  It  is  so  pretty,  so  big,  and  so  cheap.  .  .  .     An  extraordinary  shillingsworth — 

160  large  octavo  pages,  with  over  a  score  of  articles,  and  more  than  three  times  as 

many  illustrations."— Edinburgh  Daily  Review. 

"  An  amazing  shillingsworth  .  .  .  combining  choice  literature  of  both  nations." — 

Nonconformist. 

Heart  of  Africa.  Three  Years'  Travels  and  Adventures  in  the 
Unexplored  Regions  of  Central  Africa,  from  1868  to  187 1.  By  Dr. 
Georg  Schweinfurth.  Numerous  Illustrations,  and  large  Map. 
2  vols.,  crown  Svo,  cloth,  15 J. 

Heath  (Francis  George).    ' See  "  Fern  World,"  "  Fern  Paradise," 
■   "Our   Woodland    Trees,"    "Trees    and    Ferns,"    "Gilpin's    Forest 
Scenery,"  "  Burnham  Beeches,"  "Sylvan  Spring,"  &c. 

Heber's  (Bishop)  Lllust rated  Edition  of 'Hymns.  With  upwards 
of  100  beautiful  Engravings.  Small  4to,  handsomely  bound,  7 s.  6d. 
Morocco,  18s.  6d.  and  2ls.     An  entirely  New  Edition. 

Heir  of  Kilfinnan  ( The).    New  Story  by  W.  H.  G.  Kingston, 

Author  of  "  Snow  Shoes  and  Canoes,"  &c.  With  Illustrations.  Cloth, 
gilt  edges,  Js.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  5.5-. 

History  and  Handbook  of  Photography.  Translated  from  the 
French  of  Gaston  Tissandier.  Edited  by  J.  Thomson.  Imperial 
i6mo,  over  300  pages,  70  Woodcuts,  and  Specimens  of  Prints  by  the 
best  Permanent  Processes.  Second  Edition,  with  an  Appendix  by 
the  late  Mr.  Henry  Fox  Talbot.     Cloth  extra,  6s. 

History  of  a  Crime  (The)  ;  Deposition  of  an  Eye-witness.  By 
Victor  Hugo.     4  vols.,  crown  8vo,  425.     Cheap  Edition,  1  vol.,  6s. 

Ancient  Art.     Translated  from  the  German  of  John 

Winckelmann,  by  John  Lodge,  M.D.  With  very  numerous 
Plates  and  Illustrations.     2  vols.,  Svo,  36^, 

England.     See  Guizot. 

• France.     See  Guizot. 


14"  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s 

History  of  Russia.     See  Rambaud. 

Merchant  Shipping.     See  Lindsay. 

United  States.     See  Bryant. 

History  and  Principles  of  Weaving  by  Hand  and  by  Power.  With 
several  hundred  Illustrations.  By  Alfred  Barlow.  Royal  8vo, 
cloth  extra,  i/.  $s.    Second  Edition. 

Hotv  I  Crossed  Africa  :  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Indian  Ocean, 
Through  Unknown  Countries  ;  Discovery  of  the  Great  Zambesi 
Affluents,  &c— Vol.  I.,  The  King's  Rifle.  Vol.  II.,  The  Coillard 
Family.  By  Major  Serpa  Pinto.  With  24  full-page  and  118  half- 
page  and  smaller  Illustrations,  13  small  Maps,  and  1  large  one. 
2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  42s. 

How  to  Live  Long.     See  Hall. 

Hoiu  to  get  Strong  and  how  to  Stay  so.     By  William  Blaikie. 

A  Manual  of  Rational,    Physical,  Gymnastic,   and   other   Exercises. 

With  Illustrations,  small  post  8vo,  $s. 
Hugo   {Victor)    " Ninety-Three :"     Illustrated.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 
Toilers  of  the  Sea.    Crown  Svo.    Illustrated,  6s. ;  fancy 

boards,    2s.  ;    cloth,   2s.   6d.  ;   On   large  paper  with   all  the    original 
Illustrations,  iar.  6tt. 

See  "  History  of  a  Crime." 


Hundred  Greatest  Men  {The).     8  portfolios,  21s.  each,  or  4 

vols.,    half  morocco,   gilt    edges,    12    guineas,    containing    15  to  20 
Portraits   each.      See  below. 

"Messrs.  Sampson  Low  &  Co.  are  about  to  issue  an  important  '  International' 
work,  entitled,  'THE  HUNDRED  GREATEST  MEN;'  being  the  Lives  and 
Portraits  of  the  ioo  Greatest  Men  of  History,  divided  into  Eight  Classes,  each  Class 
to  form  a  Monthly  Quarto  Volume.  The  Introductions  to  the  volumes  are  to  be 
written  by  recognized  authorities  on  the  different  subjects,  the  English  contributors 
being  Dean  Stanley,  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold,  Mr.  Froude,  and  Professor  Max 
Muller:  in  Germany,  Professor  Helmholtz  ;  in  France,  MM.  Taine  and 
Renan  ;  and  in  America,  Mr.  Emerson.  The  Portraits  are  to  be  Reproductions 
from  fine  and  rare  Steel  Engravings." — Academy. 

Hygiene  and  Public  Health  (A  Treatise  on).     Edited  by  A.  H. 

Buck,    M.D.      Illustrated   by   numerous    Wood   Engravings.      In    2 

royal  Svo  vols.,  cloth,  one  guinea  each. 
Hymnal     Companion     to    Book     of    Common     Prayer.       See 

BlCKERSTETH. 


ILLUSTRATED  Text-Books  of  Art-Education.     Edited  by 
-*-      Edward  J.  Poynter,  R.  A.     Each  Volume  contains  numerous  Illus- 
trations, and  is  strongly  bound  for  the  use  of  Students,  price  5^.     The 
Volumes  now  ready  are : — 

painting. 


Classic  and  Italian.  By  Percy 
R.  Head.  With  50  Illustrations, 
5*- 


German,  Flemish,  and  Dutch. 
French  and  Spanish. 
English  and  American. 


List  of  Publications.  1 5 


Illustrated  Text-Books  {continued) : — 

ARCHITECTURE. 

Classic  and  Early  Christian. 

Gothic  and  Renaissance.     By  T.   Roger  Smith.     With  50  Illustra- 
tions, 5^. 

SCULPTURE. 
Antique :  Egyptian  and  Greek.    |  Renaissance  and  Modern. 

ORNAMENT. 

Decoration  in  Colour.  |  Architectural  Ornament. 

Illustrations  of  China  and  its  People.  By  J.  Thompson, 
F.R.G.S.     Four  Volumes,  imperial  4*0,  each  3/.  y. 

In  my  Indian  Garden.  By  Phil  Robinson,  Author  of  "  Under 
the  Punkah."  With  a  Preface  by  Edwin  Arnold,  M.  A.,  C.S.I. ,  &c. 
Crown  8vo,  limp  cloth,  y.  6tf. 

Involuntary    Voyage  {An).     Showing  how  a  Frenchman  who 

abhorred  the  Sea  was  most  unwillingly  and  by  a  series  of  accidents 
driven  round  the  World.  Numerous  Illustrations.  Square  crown 
Svo,  cloth  extra,  Js.  6d. ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  5-r. 

Irish  Bar.  Comprising  Anecdotes,  Bon-Mots,  and  Bio- 
graphical Sketches  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  Ireland.  By  J.  Roderick 
O'Flanagan,  Barrister-at-Law.     Crown  8vo,  12s.     Second  Edition. 

Irish  Land  Question,  and  English  Public  Opinion  {The).  With 
a  Supplement  on  Griffith's  Valuation.  By  R.  Barry  O'Brien, 
Author  of  "  The  Parliamentary  History  of  the  Irish  Land  Question." 
Fcap.  Svo,  cloth,  is. 

Irving  { Washington).  Complete  Library  Edition  of  his  Works 
in  27  Vols.,  Copyright,  Unabridged,  and  with  the  Author's  Latest 
Revisions,  called  the  "  Geoffrey  Crayon  "  Edition,  handsomely  printed 
in  large  square  8vo,  on  superfine  laid  paper,  and  each  volume,  of 
about  500  pages,  will  be  fully  Illustrated.  \zs.  6d.  per  vol.  See  also 
"Little  Britain." 

<>fA  CK  and  JM.     By  Miss  Alcott.     Small  post  Svo,  cloth, 

y       gilt  edges,  $s.     With  numerous  Illustrations. 

John  Holdsworth,  Chief  Mate.  By  W.  Clarke  Russell, 
Author  of  "Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor."     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

ZflNGSTON {W.  H.  G.).     See  "Snow-Shoes,"  "  Child  of 

-**■      the    Cavern,"    "Two    Supercargoes,"    "With    Axe    and   Rifle," 

"Begum's  Fortune,"  "  Heir  of  Kilfinnan,"  "  Dick  Cheveley."     Each 

vol.,  with  very  numerous  Illustrations,  square  crown  i6mo,  gilt  edges, 

•js.  6d. ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  5^. 


1 6  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  c°  Co.'s 

T  ADY Silverdale's  Sweetheart.     6s.     See  Black. 

Lenten  Meditations.  In  Two  Series,  each  complete  in  itself. 
By  the  Rev.  Claude  Bosanquet,  Author  of  "Blossoms  from  the 
King's  Garden."     i6mo,  cloth,  First  Series,  is.  6d.  ;  Second  Series,  2s. 

Library  of  Religious  Poetry.     A  Collection  of  the  Best  Poems 

of  all  Ages  and  Tongues.     With   Biographical  and   Literary  Notes. 

Edited  by  Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  LL.D..  and  Arthur  Gilman, 

M.A.     Royal  8vo,  pp.  1036,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  21  s. 
Life   and  Letters   of  the  Honourable  Charles   Sumner  (The). 

2  vols.,  royal  8vo,  cloth.     Second  Edition,  36^. 
Lindsay  ( IV.   S.)   History  of  Merchant  Shipping  and  Ancient 

Commerce.     Over  150  Illustrations,   Maps,  and  Charts.      In  4  vols., 

demy  8vo,  cloth  extra.     Vols.  1  and  2,  2U-.  ;  vols.  3  and  4,  24s-.  each. 
Little  Britain ;  together  with   The  Spectre  Bridegroom,  and  A 

Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow.     By  Washington  Irving.     An  entirely 

New  Edition  de  luxe,  specially  suitable  for  Presentation.     Illustrated 

by    120  very   fine   Engravings    on   Wood,   by  Mr.  J.   D.    Cooper. 

Designed  by  Mr.   Charles  O.  Murray.     Square  crown  8vo,  cloth 

extra,  gilt  edges,  iar.  6d. 
Little  King ;  or,  the  Taming  of  a    Young  Russian    Count.     By 

S.  Blandy.    64  Illustrations.    Crown  8vo,  gilt  edges,  Is.  6d.  ;  plainer 

binding,  $s. 

Little  Mercy ;  or,  For  Better  for  Worse.  By  Maude  Jeanne 
•Franc,  Author  of  "Marian,"  "Vermont  Vale,"  &c,  &c.  Small 
post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  \s.     Second  Edition. 

Lost  Sir  Massingberd.  New  Edition,  crown  8vo,  boards,  coloured 

wrapper,  2s. 

Low's  German  Series — 

1.  The  Illustrated  German  Primer.    Being  the  easiest  introduction 

to  the  study  of  German  for  all  beginners,      is. 

2.  The  Children's   own  German  Book.     A  Selection  of  Amusing 

and  Instructive  Stories  in  Prose.    Edited  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Meissner. 
Small  post  8vo,  cloth,  u.  6d. 

3.  The    First    German    Reader,    for    Children    from    Ten    to 

Fourteen.     Edited  by  Dr.    A.   L.  Meissner.     Small  post  8vo, 
cloth,  is.  6d. 

4.  The  Second  German  Reader.     Edited  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Meissner. 

Small  post  8vo,  cloth,  u.  6d. 

Buchheim'1  s  Deutsche  Prosa.      Two  Volumes,  sold  separately  ;  — 

5.  Schiller's  Prosa.     Containing  Selections  from  the  Prose  Works 

of  Schiller,  with  Notes  for  English  Students.     By  Dr.  .Buchheim. 
Small  post  8vo,  2s.  6d. 

6.  Goethe's  Prosa.     Selections  from  the  Prose  Works  of  Goethe, 

with  Notes  for  English  Students.     By  Dr.   Buchheim.     Small 
post  8vo,  3.?.  6d. 


List  of  Publications.  1 7 


Low's    International    Scries  of    Toy   Boo  \s.      6d.   each ;    or 
Mounted  on  Linen,  is. 

1.  Little  Fred  and  his  Fiddle,   from  Asbjornsen's   "Norwegian 

Fairy  Tales." 

2.  The  Lad  and  the  North  Wind,  ditto. 

3.  The  Pancake,  ditto. 

4.  The    Little    Match    Girl,    from  H.    C.    Andersen's    "  Danish 

Fairy  Tales." 

5.  The  Emperor's  New  Clothes,  ditto. 

6.  The  Gallant  Tin  Soldier,  ditto. 

The  above  in  1   vol.,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  with  the  whole  36 
Coloured  Illustrations,  5.5-. 

Lota's  Standard  Library  of  Travel  and  Adventure.     Crown  8vo, 
bound  uniformly  in  cloth  extra,  price  Js.  6d. 

1.  The  Great  Lone  Land.     By  Major  W.  F.  Butler,  C.B. 

2.  The  "Wild  North  Land.     By  Major  W.  F.  Butler,  C.B. 

3.  How  I  found  Living-stone.    By  H.  M.  Stanley. 

4.  The  Threshold  of  the  Unknown  Reg-ion.     By  C.  R.  Mark* 

HAM.     (4th  Edition,  with  Additional  Chapters,  10s.  6d.) 

5.  A  Whaling  Cruise  to  Baffin's  Bay  and  the  Gulf  of  Boothia. 

By  A.  H.  Markham. 

6.  Campaigning  on  the  Oxus.     By  J.  A.  MacGahan. 

7.  Akim-foo :    the  History  of  a  Failure.      By  Major   W.    F. 

Butler,  C.B. 

8.  Ocean  to   Ocean.     By  the   Rev.    George   M.    Grant.     With 

Illustrations. 
•    9.   Cruise  of  the  Challenger.     By  W.  J.  J.  Spry,  R.N. 

10.  Schweinfurth's  Heart  of  Africa.     2  vols.,  i$s. 

11.  Through  the  Dark  Continent.     By  H.  M.  Stanley.     I  vol., 

12  j.  6d. 

Low's  Standard  Novels.     Crown  8vo,  6s.  each,  cloth  extra. 

My  Lady  Greensleeves.  By  Helen  Mathers,  Authoress  of 
"  Comin'  through  the  Rye,"  "  Cherry  Ripe,"  &c. 

Three  Feathers.     By  William  Black. 

A  Daughter  of  Heth.  13th  Edition.  By  W.  Black.  With 
Frontispiece  by  F.  Walker,  A.R.A. 

Kilmeny.     A  Novel.     By  W.  Black. 

In  Silk  Attire.     By  W.  Black. 

Lady  Silverdale's  Sweetheart.    By  W.  Black. 

History  of  a  Crime  :  The  Story  of  the  Coup  d'Etat.  By  Victor 
Hugo. 


1 8  Sampson  Low,  Mars  ton,  6°  Co.'s 

Low's  Standard  Novels  {continued) : — 

Alice  Lorraine.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Lorna  Doone.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore.     8th  Edition. 

Cradock  Nowell.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Clara  Vaug-han.     By  R.  D.  BLACKMORE. 

Cripps  the  Carrier.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Erema;  or,  My  Father's  Sin.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Mary  Anerley.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Innocent.     By  Mrs.  Oliphant.     Eight  Illustrations. 

Work.  A  Story  of  Experience.  By  Louisa  M.  Alcott.  Illustra- 
tions.    See  also  Rose  Library. 

The  Afghan  Knife.     By  R.  A.  Sterndale,  Author  of  "Seonee." 

A  French  Heiress  in  her  own  Chateau.  By  the  Author  of 
"One  Only,"  "  Constantia,"  &c.     Six  Illustrations. 

Ninety-Three.     By  Victor  Hugo.     Numerous  Illustrations. 

My  "Wife  and  I.     By  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe. 

Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor.     By  W.  Clark  Russell. 

John  Holds-worth  (Chief  Mate).     By  W.  Clark  Russell. 

Elinor  Dryden.     By  Mrs.  Macquoid. 

Diane.    By  Mrs.  Macquoid. 

Pog-anuc  People,  Their  Loves  and  Lives.  By  Mrs.  Beecher 
Stowe.  . 

A  Golden  Sorrow.     By  Mrs.  Cashel  Hoey. 

A  Story  of  the  Drag-onnades  ;  or,  Asylum  Christi.  By  the  Rev. 
E.  GlLLIAT,  M.A. 

Low's  Handbook  to  the  Charities  of  London.  Edited  and 
revised  to  date  by  C.  Mackeson,  F.S.S.,  Editor  of  "A  Guide  to  the 
Churches  of  London  and  its  Suburbs,"  &c.     Paper,  is.  ;  cloth,  is.  6d. 

1UTACGAHAN  (f.  A.)  Campaigning  on  the  Oxus,  and  the 

•*■'■*■  Fall  of  Khiva.  With  Map  and  numerous  Illustrations,  4th  Edition, 
small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  7-r.  6d. 

Macgregor  [John)  "Rob  Roy"  on  the  Baltic.  3rd  Edition, 
small  post  8vo,  2s.  6d.  ;  cloth,  gilt  edges,  3^.  6d. 

A   Thousand  Miles   in  the  "Rob  Roy"    Canoe,     nth 

Edition,  small  post  8vo,  is.  6d. ;  cloth,  gilt  edges,  3.C  6d. 

Description  of  the    "  Rob   Roy"    Canoe,  with   Plans, 

&c,  is. 

The    Voyage  Alone  in   the   Yawl  "  Rob  Roy."      New 

Edition,    thoroughly   revised,    with   additions,    small   post   8vo,    5-r. ; 
boards,  2s.  6d. 


List  of  Publications.  19 


Mackenzie  (D.)  The  Flooding  of  the  Sahara.  By  Donald 
Mackenzie.     8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  xos.  6d. 

Macquoid  (Mrs.)  Elinor  Dry  den.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  6s. 

Diane.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Magazine.     Sec  Harper. 

Markham   (C.   R.)    The  Threshold  of  the    Unknown   Region. 

Crown  8vo,  with  Four  Maps,   4th  Edition.      Cloth  extra,  \os.  6d. 

Maury  (Commander)  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea,  and  its 
Meteorology.  Being  a  Reconstruction  and  Enlargement  of  his  formei 
Work,  with  Charts  and  Diagrams.     New  Edition,  crown  8vo,  6s. 

Memoirs  of  Count  Miot  de  Melito.     2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  365. 

Memoirs  of  Madame  de  Remusat,  1802  — 1808.  By  her  Grand- 
son, M.  Paul  de  Remusat,  Senator.  Translated  by  Mrs.  Cashel 
Hoey  and  Mr.  John  Lillie.  4th  Edition,  cloth  extra.  This 
work  was  written  by  Madame  de  Remusat  during  the  time  she 
was  living  on  the  most  intimate  terms  with  the  Empress  Josephine, 
and  is  full  of  revelations  respecting  the  private  life  of  Bonaparte,  and 
of  men  and  politics  of  the  first  years  of  the  century.  Revelations 
which  have  already  created  a  great  sensation  in  Paris.    8vo,  2  vols..  32^. 

Menus  (366,  one  for  each  day  of  the  year).  Translated  from  the 
French  of  Count  Brisse,  by  Mrs.  Matthew'  Clarke.  Crown 
Svo,  10s.  6d. 

Men  of  Mark  :  a  Gallery  of  Contemporary  Portraits  of  the  most 
Eminent  Men  of  the  Day  taken  from  Eife,  especially  for  this  publica- 
tion, price  is.  6d.  monthly.  Vols.  I.,  II.,  III.,  IV.,  and  V.,  hand- 
somely bound,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  2$s.  each. 

Mendelssohn  Family  (The).  Translated  from  the  German  of 
E.  Bock.     Demy  Svo,  i6j. 

Michael  Strogoff.     10s.  6d.  and  5^.     See  Verne. 

Mitford  (Miss).     See  "  Our  Village." 

Military  Maxims.  By  Captain  B.  Terling.  Medium  i6mo, 
in  roan  case,  with  pencil  for  the  pocket,  10s.  6d. 

Mountain  and  Prairie :  a  Journey  from  Victoria  to  Winnipeg, 
via  Peace  River  Pass.  By  the  Rev.  Daniel  M.  Gordon,  B.D., 
Ottawa.  Small  post  Svo,  with  Maps  and  Illustrations,  cloth  extra, 
8s.  6d. 

Music.     See  "Great  Musicians." 

My  Lady  Greensleeves.  By  Helen  Mathers,  Authoress  of 
"Comin'  through  the  &ye,"  "Cherry  Ripe,"  &c.  1  vol.  edition, 
crown  8vo,  cloth,  6s. 


Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s 


Mysterious  Island.    By  Jules  Verne.    3  vols.,  imperial  i6mo. 

150  Illustrations,  cloth  gilt,  y.  6d.  each  ;  elaborately  bound,  gilt 
edges,  Js.  6d.  each.  Cheap  Edition,  with  some  of  the  Illustrations, 
cloth,  gilt,  2s. ;  paper,  is.  each. 


AJATIONAL  Mask  of  the  World.     By  the  late  Henry  F. 
■L  *      Chorley.    Edited  by  H.  G.  Hewlett.    Crown  8vo,  cloth,  &s.  6d. 

Naval  Brigade  in  South  Africa  {The).  By  Henry  F.  Nor- 
bury,  C.B.,  R  N.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  lew.  6d. 

New  Child's  Play  (A).  Sixteen  Drawings  by  E.  V.  B.  Beauti- 
fully printed  in  colours,  4to,  cloth  extra,  12s.  6c/. 

New  Guinea  (A  Few  Months  in).  By  Octavius  C.  Stone, 
F.R.G.S.  With  numerous  Illustrations  from  the  Author's  own 
Drawings.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  12s. 

What  I  did  and  what  I  sazv.     By  L.  M.  D'Albertis, 

Officer  of  the  Order  of  the  Crown  of  Italy,  Honorary  Member  and 
Gold  Medallist  of  the  I.R.GS.,  C.M.Z.S.,  &c,  &c.  In  2  vols., 
demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Maps,  Coloured  Plates,  and  numerous 
very  fine  Woodcut  Illustrations,  42^. 

New  Ireland.  By  A.  M.  Sullivan,  M.P.  for  Louth.  2  vols., 
demy  8vo,  30^.     Cheaper  Edition,  1  vol.,  crown  8vo,  Ss.  6d. 

New  Novels.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  10s.  6d.  per  vol.  : — 

Mary  Marston.    By  George  MacDonald.    3  vols.    Third  Edition. 

Sarah  de  Beranger.     By  Jean  Ingelow.     3  vols. 

Don  John.     By  Jean  Ingelow.     3  vols. 

Sunrise  :  A  Story  of  these  Times.     By  William  Black.     3  vols. 

A  Sailor's  Sweetheart.     By  W.  Clark  Russell,  Author  of  "The 

Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,"  "John  Holdsworth,"  &c.      3  vols. 
Lisa  Lena.      By   Edward  Jenkins,   Author  of  "Ginx's  Baby." 

2  vols. 

A  Plot  of  the  Present  Day.     By  Kate  Hope.     3  vols. 

Black  Abbey.     By  M.    Crommelin,   Author  of    "Queenie,"  &c. 

3  vols. 

Flower  o'  the  Broom.     By  the  Author  of  "Rare  Pale  Margaret," 

3  vols. 
The  Grandidiers :  A  Tale  of  Berlin.     Translated  from  the  German 

by  Captain  Wm.  Savile.     3  vols. 
Errant :  A  Life  Story  of  Latter-Day  Chivalry.     By  Percy  Greg, 

Author  of  "Across  the  Zodiac,"  &c.     3  vols. 
Fancy  Free.     By  C.  Gibbon.     3  vols. 
The  Stillwater  Tragedy.     By  J.  B.  Aldrich. 
Prince   Fortune   and    Prince    Fata>l.      By   Mrs.    Carrington, 

Author  of  "  My  Cousin  Maurice,"  &c.     3  vols. 


List  of  Publications.  21 


New  Novels  {continued)  : — 

An  English   Squire.     By  C.    B.   Coleridge,   Author  of   "Lady 

Betty,"  ''  Hanbury  Wills,"  &c.     3  vols. 
Christowell.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore.     3  vols. 
Mr.  Caroli.     By  Miss  Seguin.     3  vols. 
David  Broome,  Artist.     By  Miss  O'REILLY.     3  vols. 
Braes  of  Yarrow.     By  Chas.  Gibbon.     3  vols. 

Nice  and  Her  Neighbours.  By  the  Rev.  Canon  Hole,  Author 
of  "  A  Book  about  Roses,"  "  A  Little  Tour  in  Ireland,"  &c.  Small 
4to,  with  numerous  choice  Illustrations,  \2s.  6d. 

Noble  Words  and  Noble  Deeds.    From  the  French  of  E.  Muller. 

Containing  many  Full-page  Illustrations  by  Philippoteaux.     Square 
imperial  i6mo,  cloth  extra,  7-r.  6d. ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  $s. 

North  American  Review  {The).     Monthly,  price  2s.  6d. 

Nothing  to  Wear ;  and  Two  Millions.  By  W.  A.  Butler. 
New  Edition;     Small  post  8v'o,  in  stiff  coloured  wrapper,  is. 

Nursery  Playmates  {Prince  of ).  217  Coloured  pictures  for 
Children  by  eminent  Artists.     Folio,  in  coloured  boards,  6s. 


r\BERAMM£RGAU   Passion   Play.      See   "Art   in    the 
^         Mountains." 

O'Brien.      See  "Parliamentary    History"  and    "Irish   Land 

Question. " 

Old-Fashioned  Girl.     See  Alcott. 

On  Horseback  through  Asia  Minor.     By  Capt.  Fred  Burnaby, 

Royal  Horse  Guards,  Author  of  "  A  Ride  to  Khiva."  2  vols., 
8vo,  with  three  Maps  and  Portrait  of  Author,  6th  Edition,  38^. ; 
Cheaper  Edition,  crown  8vo,  \os.  6d. 

Our  Little  Ones  in  Heaven.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  H.  Robbins. 
With  Frontispiece  after  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  Fcap.,  cloth  extra, 
New  Edition — the  3rd,  with  Illustrations,  $s. 

Our  Village.  By  Mary  Russell  Mitford.  Illustrated  with 
Frontispiece  Steel  Engraving,  and  12  full-page  and  157  smaller  Cuts 
of  Figure  Subjects  and  Scenes.     Crown  4to,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  2\s. 

Our  Woodland  Trees.  By  F.  G.  Heath.  Large  post  8vo, 
cloth,  gilt  edges,  uniform  with  "Fern  World  "  and  "  Fern  Paradise," 
by  the  same  Author.  8  Coloured  Plates  (showing  leaves  of  every 
British  Tree)  and  20  Woodcuts,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  \2s.  6 J.  Third 
Edition. 


22  Sampson  Loiv,  Marston,  &  Cois 

pAINTERS  of  All  Schools.     By  Louis  Viardot,  and  other 
■*■      Writers.      500   pp.,  super-royal  8vo,  20    Full-page    and    70  smaller 
Engravings,   cloth   extra,   25J.       A  New  Edition    is   issued    in    Hal(- 
crown  parts,  with  fifty  additional  portraits,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  3U.  6d. 

Painting  (A  Short  History  of  the  British  School  of).  By 
Geo.  H.  Shepherd.     Post  8vo,  cloth,  $s.  6d. 

Palliser  (Mrs.)  A  History  of  Lace,  from  the  Earliest  Period. 
A  New  and  Revised  Edition,  with  additional  cuts  and  text,  upwards 
of  100  Illustrations  and  coloured  Designs.      1  vol.,  Svo,  it.  is. 

Historic  Devices,  Badges,  and  War  Cries.     Svo,  1/.  i^. 

The  China  Collector's  Pocket  Companion.  With,  up- 
wards of  1000  Illustrations  of  Marks  and  Monograms.  2nd  Edition, 
with  Additions.     Small  post  8vo,  limp  cloth,  5^. 

Parliamentary  History  of  the  Irish  Land  Question  (The).  From 
1829  to  1869,  and  the  Origin  and  Results  of  the  Ulster  Custom.  By 
R.  Barry  O'Brien,  Barrister-at-Law,  Author  of  "The  Irish  Land 
Question  and  English  Public  Opinion."  3rd  Edition,  corrected  and 
revised,  with  additional  matter.     Post  Svo,  cloth  extra,  6.r. 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE,  M.P.,  in  a  Letter  to  the  Author,  says:— 
"I  thank  you  for  kindly  sending  me  your  work,  and  I  hope  that  the  sad  and  dis- 
creditable story  which  you  have  told  so  well  in  your  narrative  of  the  Irish  Land 
Question  may  be  useful  at  a  period  when  we  have  more  than  ever  of  reason  to  desire 
that  it  should  be  thoroughly  understood." 

Pathways  of  Palestine  :  a  Descriptive  Tour  through  the  Holy 
Land.  By  the  Rev.  Canon  Tristram.  Illustrated  with  44  per- 
manent Photographs.  (The  Photographs  are  large,  and  most  perfect 
Specimens  of  the  Art.)  Published  in  22  Monthly  Parts,  4to,  in 
Wrapper,  2s.  6d.  each. 

"...  The  Photographs  which  illustrate  these  pages  may  justly  claim,  as  works 
of  art,  to  be  the  most  admirably  executed  views  which  have  been  produced.  .  .  . 

"As  the  writer  is  on  the  point  of  making  a  fourth  visit  of  exploration  to  the 
country,  any  new  discoveries  which  come  under  observation  will  be  at  once  incor- 
porated in  this  work." 

Peasant  Life  in  the  West  of  England.  By  Francis  George 
Heath,  Author  of  "Sylvan  Spring,"  "The  Fern  World."  Crown 
Svo,  about  350  pp.,  10s.  6d. 

Petites  Lemons  de    Conversation   et  de  Grammaire :    Oral  and 

Conversational  Method  ;  being  Lessons  introducing  the  most  Useful 
Topics  of  Conversation,  upon  an  entirely  new  principle,  &c.  By 
F.  Julien,  French  Master  at  King  Edward  the  Sixth's  School, 
Birmingham.  Author  of  "The  Student's  French  Examiner,"  "First 
Steps  in  Conversational  French  Grammar,"  which  see. 

Phillips  (L.)  Dictionary  of  Biographical  Reference.  8vo, 
j/.  1 1  s.  6d. 

Photography  (History  and  Handbook  of).     See  Tissandier. 


Lid  of  Publications.  23 


Physical  Treatise  on  Electricity  and  Magnetism.  By  J.  E.  H. 
Gordon,  B.A.  With  about  200  coloured,  full-page,  and  other 
Illustrations.  Among  the  newer  portions  of  the  work  may  be 
enumerated  :  All  the  more  recent  investigations  on  Strife  by  Spottis- 
woode,  De  la  Rue,  Moulton,  &c,  an  account  of  Mr.  Crooke's  recent 
researches  ;  full  descriptions  and  pictures  of  all  the  modern  Magnetic 
Survey  Instruments  now  used  at  Kew  Observatory  ;  full  accounts  of 
all  the  modern  work  on  Specific  Inductive  Capacity,  and  of  the  more 
recent  determination  of  the  ratio  of  Electric  units  (v).  In  respect  to 
the  number  and  beauty  of  the  Illustrations,  the  work  is  quite  unique. 
2  vols.,  8vo,  36^. 

Pinto  {Major  Serpa).     See  "  How  I  Crossed  Africa." 
Plutarch's   Lives.     An   Entirely   New    and    Library    Edition. 

Edited  by  A.  H.  CLOUGH,  Esq.  5  vols.,  8vo,  il.  I  or. ;  half-morocco, 
gilt  top,  3/.  Also  in  I  vol.,  royal  8vo,  800  pp.,  cloth  extra,  \%s. ; 
half-bound,  2is. 

Poems  of  the  Inner  Life.     A  New  Edition,  Revised,  with  many 

additional  Poems.      Small  post  8vo,  cloth,  $s. 

Poganuc  People:  their  Loves  and  Lives.  By  Mrs.  Beecher 
Stowe.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  6s. 

Polar  Expeditions.  See  Koldewey,  Markham,  MacGahan, 
and  Nares. 


_  » 


Poynter  {Edward  J.,  R.A.).     See  "  Illustrated  Text-books 

Practical  {A)  Handbook  to  the  Principal  Schools  of  England. 
By  C.  E.  Pascoe.     New  Edition,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  3-r.  6J. 

Prejevalsky  {N.  M.)  From  Kulja,  across  the  Tian  Shan  to  Lob- 
nor.  Translated  by  E.  Delmar  Morgan,  F.R.G.S.  Demy  8vo, 
with  a  Map.      i6j. 

Primitive  Folk  Moots ;  or,  Open-Air  Assemblies  in  Britain. 
By  George  Laurence  Gomme,  F.S.A.,  Honorary  Secretary  to  the 
Folk-Lore  Society,  Author  of  "  Index  of  Municipal  Offices."  1  vol., 
crown  Svo,  cloth,  \2s. 

This  work-  deals  with  an  earlier  phase   of  the   history  of  English 
Institutions  than  has  yet  been  attempted. 

Publishers'  Circular  {The),  and  General  Record  of  British  and 
Foreign  Literature.     Published  on  the  1st  and  1 5th  of  every  Month,  3^. 

Pyrenees  {The).  By  Henry  Blackburn.  With  100  Illustra- 
tions by  Gustave  Dore,  a  New  Map  of  Routes,  and  Information  for 
Travellers,  corrected  to  1881.  With  a  description  of  Lourdes  in  1SS0. 
Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  "]s.  6d. 


24  Sampson  Lena,  Mars  ton,  6°  Co.'s 

13 AM B A  UD  {Alfred).     History  of  Russia,  from  its  Origin 
-**■     to   the   Year    1877.     With  Six  Maps.     Translated  by  Mra.  L.    B. 
1  /  1 .2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  38^. 

Recollections  of  Writers.  By  Charles  and  Mary  Cowden 
Clarke.  Authors  of  "  The  Concordance  to  Shakespeare,"  &c.  ; 
with  Letters  of  Charles  Lamb,  Leigh  Hunt,  Douglas  Jerrold, 
and  Charles  Dickens  ;  and  a  Preface  by  Mary  Cowden  Clarke. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth,  \os.  6d. 

Remusat  {Madame  de).     See  "  Memoirs  of." 

Robinson  {Phil).  See  "  In  my  Indian  Garden,"  "  Under  the 
Punkah." 

Rochefoucauld s  Reflections.     Bayard  Series,  2s.  6d. 

Rogers  {S.)  Pleasures  of  Memory.  See  "  Choice  Editions  of 
Choice  Books."     2s.  6d. 

Rose  in  Bloom.     See  Alcott, 

The  Rose  Library.  Popular  Literature  of  all  countries.  Each 
volume,  is.  ;  cloth,  2s.  6d.     Many  of  the  Volumes  are  Illustrated — 

1.  Sea-Gull  Rock.     By  Jules  Sandeau.     Illustrated. 

2.  Little  "Women.     By  Louisa  M.  Alcott. 

3.  Little  Women  Wedded.     Forming  a  Sequel  to  "Little  Women. " 

4.  The  House  on  Wheels.     By  Madame  de  Stolz.     Illustrated. 

5.  Little  Men.  By  Louisa  M.  Alcott.  Dble.  vol.,  2s. ;  cloth,  y.  6d. 

6.  The  Old-Fashioned  Girl.    By  Louisa  M.  Alcott.     Double 

vol.,  2s.  ;  cloth,  y.  6d. 

7.  The  Mistress  of  the  Manse.     By  J.  G.  Holland. 

8.  Timothy  Titcomb's  Letters  to  Young  People,  Single  and 

Married. 

9.  Undine,  and  the  Two  Captains.     By  Baron  De  La  Motte 

Fouque.     A  New  Translation  by  F.  E.  Bunnett.     Illustrated. 

10.  Draxy   Miller's  Dowry,   and    the    Elder's    Wife.     By  Saxe 

Holm. 

11.  The  Four  Gold  Pieces.     By   Madame   Gouraud.     Numerous 

Illustrations. 

12.  Work.     A  Story  of  Experience.     First  Portion.     By  Louisa   M. 

Alcott. 

13.  Beginning:   Ag'ain.     Being  a   Continuation    of   "Work."      By 

Louisa  M.  Alcott. 

14.  Picciola ;     or,    the   Prison   Flower.       By   X.    B.    Saintine. 

Numerous  Graphic  Illustrations. 


List  of  Publications.  2  5 


The  Rose  Library  {continued)  : — 

15.  Robert's  Holidays.     Illustrated. 

16.  The  Two  Children  of  St.  Domingo.     Numerous  Illustrations. 

17.  Aunt  Jo's  Scrap  Bag. 

18.  Stowe  (Mrs.  H,  B.)  The  Pearl  of  Ori-'s  Island. 
19. The  Minister's  Wooing. 

20.   Betty's  Bright  Idea. 

21.   The  Ghost  in  the  Mill. 

22. Ca.ptain  Kidd's  Money. 

23.    We  and  our  Neighbours.     Double  vol.,  2s. 

24.   My  Wife  and  I.    Double  vol.,  2s.  ;  cloth,  gilt,  3.C  6J. 

25.  Hans  Brinker  ;  or,  the  Silver  Skates. 

26.  Lowell's  My  Study  Window.  , 

27.  Holmes  (O.  W.)  The  Guardian  Angel. 

28.  Warner  (C.  D.)  My  Summer  in  a  Garden. 

29.  Hitherto.    By  the  Author  of  "  The  Gay worthys."    2  vols.,  I s.  each. 

30.  Helen's  Babies.     By  their  Latest  Victim. 

31.  The  Barton  Experiment.    By  the  Author  of  "  Helen's  Babies." 

32.  Dred.     By  Mrs.    Beecher   Stowe.     Double    vol.,    2s.  ;    cloth, 

gilt,  y.  6d. 

33.  Warner  (C.  D.)  In  the  Wilderness. 

34.  Six  to  One.     A  Seaside  Story. 

35.  Nothing  to  Wear,  and  Two  Millions. 

36.  Farm  Ballads.     By  Will  Carleton. 

Russell  (  W.  Clarke).  See  "  A  Sailor's  Sweetheart,"  3  vols., 
lis.  6d.  ;  "Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,"  6s.  ;  "John  Holdsworth  (Chief 
Mate),"  6s. 

Russell  (IV.  H.,  LL.D.)  The  Tour  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in 
India.  By  W.  H.  Russell,  LL.D.  Fully  Illustrated  by  Sydney 
P.  Hall,  M.A.  Super-royal  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  52.5-.  6J. ; 
Large  Paper  Edition,  84^. 

OAArCTA     Christina :   a  Story  of  the   First    Century.     By 
v-'      Eleanor  E.  Orlebar.    With  a  Preface  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester. 
Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  $s. 

Seonee :  Sporting  in  the  Satpura  Range  of  Central  India,  and  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Nerbudda.  By  R.  A.  Sterndale,  F.R.G.S.  8vo, 
with  numerous  Illustrations,  2U. 

Seven  Years  in  South  Africa  :  Travels,  Researches,  and  Hunting 
Adventures  between  the    Diamond-Fields   and  the   Zambesi  (1872 — 
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and  4  Maps.     In  2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  42.1. 


26  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s 


Serpent  Charmer  (The) :  a  Tale  of  the  Indian  Mutiny.  By 
Louis  Rousselet,  Author  of  "India  and  its  Native  Princes." 
Numerous  Illustrations.  Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  7-f.  6d.  ; 
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Shakespeare  (The  Boudoir).  Edited  by  Henry  Cundell. 
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and  Juliet— Twelfth  Night— King  John.  The  latter  six  plays  sepa- 
rately, paper  cover,  gd. 

Shakespeare  Key  ( The).  Forming  a  Companion  to  "  The 
Complete  Concordance  to  Shakespeare."  By  Charles  and  Mary 
Cowden  Clarke.     Demy  8vo,  800  pp.,  21s. 

Shooting:  its  Appliances,  Practice,  and  Purpose.  By  James 
Dalziel  Dougall,  F.S.A.,  F.Z.A.,  Author  of  "Scottish  Field 
Sports,"  &c.     Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  iar.  6d. 

"The  book  is  admirable  in  every  way We  wish  it  every  success."— Globe. 

"A  very  complete  treatise Likely  to  take  high  rank  as  an  authority  on 

shooting  " — Daily  News: 

Silent  Hour  ( The).     See  "  Gentle  Life  Series." 

Silver  Pitchers.     See  Alcott. 

Simon  (yules).     See  "  Government  of  M.  Thiers." 

Six  to  One.     A  Seaside  Story.     i6mo,  boards,  is. 

Smith  (G.)  Assyrian  Explorations  and  Discoveries.  By  the  late 
George  SiMITH.  Illustrated  by  Photographs  and  Woodcuts.  Demy 
Svo,  6th  Edition,  \%s. 

The    Chaldean  Account   of    Genesis.        By    the    late 

G.    Smith,  of  the  Department  of  Oriental  Antiquities.  British  Museum. 
With  many  Illustrations.     Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6th  Edition,  i6.r. 

An  entirely  New  Edition,  completely  revised  and  re- 
written by  the  Rev.  Professor  Savce,  Queen's  College,  Oxford. 
Demy  8vo,  iSj. 

Snow-Shoes  and  Canoes ;  or,  the  Adventures  of  a  Fur-Hunter 
in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Territory.  By  W.  H.  G.  Kingston.  2nd 
Edition.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  Square  crown  Svo,  cloth 
extra,  gilt  edges,  js.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  $s. 


List  of  Publications.  27 


Songs  and  Etchings  in  Shade  and  Sunshine.  By  J.  E.  G. 
Illustrated  with  44  Etchings.     Small  4to,  cloth,  gilt  tops,  25^. 

South  African  Campaign,  1879  {The).  Compiled  by  J.  P. 
MACKINNON  (formerly  72nd  Highlanders),  and  S.  H.  Shadbolt  ; 
and  dedicated,  by  permission,  to  Field-Marshal  H.R.H.  The  Duke 
of  Cambridge.     4to,  handsomely  bound  in  cloth  extra,  it.  \Os. 

South  Kensington  Museum.  Published,  with  the  sanction  of 
the  Science  and  Art  Depirtment,  in  Monthly  Parts,  each  con- 
taining 8  Plates,  price  is.  Volume  I.,  containing  12  numbers,  hand- 
somely bound,  16.J-. 

Stanley  (IT.  M.)  How  I  Found  Livingstone.  Crown  8vo,  cloth 
extra,  7-f.  6d.  ;  large  Paper  Edition,  10s.  6d. 


"My  Kalulu"   Prince,   King,   and  Slave.     A   Story 

from  Central  Africa.    Crown  8vo,  about  430  pp. ,  with  numerous  graphic 
Illustrations,  after  Original  Designs  by  the  Author.     Cloth,  *]s.  6</. 

Coomassle   and  Magdala.      A  Story    of  Two  British 


Campaigns  in  Africa.     Demy  8vo,  with  Maps  and  Illustrations,  \6s. 
Through  the  Dark  Continent,  which  see. 


Story  of  a  Mountain  (The).  By  E.  Reclus.  Translated  by 
Bertha  Ness.  8vo,  with  Illustrations,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges, 
7j.  6d. 

Story  of  a  Soldier's  Life  (The)  ;  or,  Peace,  War,  and  Mutiny. 
By  Lieut.-General  John  Alexander  Ewart,  C.B.,  Aide-de-Camp 
to  the  Queen  from  1859  to  1872.  2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  with  Illustra- 
tions. 

Story  of  the  Zulu  Campaign  (The).  By  Major  Ashe  (late 
King's  Dragoon  Guards),  and  Captain  the  Hon.  E.  V.  Wyatt- 
Edgell  (late  17th  Lancers,  killed  at  Ulundi).  Dedicated  by  special 
permission  to  Her  Imperial  Highness  the  Empress  Eugenie.     8vo,  i6.f. 

Story  without  an  End.  Erom  the  German  of  Carove,  by  the  late 
Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Austin.  Crown  4to,  with  15  Exquisite  Drawings 
by  E.  V.  B.,  printed  in  Colours  in  Fac-simile  of  the  original  Water 
Colours ;  and  numerous  other  Illustrations.     New  Edition,  "]s.  6d. 

square  4to,  with  Illustrations  by  Harvey.     2s.  6d. 

Sto7ce  (Mrs.  Beecher)  Dred.  Cheap  Edition,  boards,  25-.  Cloth, 
gilt  edges,  jr.  6d. 


a8  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6r>.  Co.'s 


Stowe  (Mrs.  Beecher)  Footsteps  of  the  Master.     With  Illustra- 
tions and  red  borders.     Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Geography,  with  60  Illustrations.     Square  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

Little   Foxes.     Cheap    Edition,   is. ;  Library  Edition, 


4-r.  6d. 
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My    Wife    and  L;    or,    Harry   Henderson's   History. 

Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6.r.* 

Minister's  Wooing.  5*.;  Copyright  Series,  is.  6d.;  cl.,  25.* 

Old  Town  Folk.     6s. ;  Cheap  Edition,  2s.  6d. 

Old  Town  Fireside  Stories.     Cloth  extra,  $s.  6d. 

Our  Folks  at Poganuc.     10s.  6d. 

We  and  our  Neighbours.     1  vol.,  small  post  8vo,  6s. 

Sequel  to  "  My  Wife  and  I."* 

Fink  and   White  Tyranny.     Small  post  8vo,  3s.  6d. 


Cheap  Edition,  is.  6d.  and  2s. 
Queer  Little  People,     is. ;  cloth,  2s. 

Chimney  Corner,     is. ;  cloth,  is.  6d. 

The  Pearl  of  Orr's  Island.     Crown  8vo,  5^.* 

Little  Pussey  Willow.     Fcap.,  2s. 


Woman    in    Sacred   History.       Illustrated    with     15 

Chromo-lithographs  and   about   200  pages   of  Letterpress.       Dem 
4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  2$s. 

Student's  French  Examiner.  By  F.  Julien,  Author  of  "  Petites 
Leconsde Conversation  etdeGrammaire."  Square  crown  8vo,  cloth,  2s 

Studies  in  German  Literature.  By  Bayard  Taylor.  Edited 
by  Marie  Taylor.  With  an  Introduction  by  the  Hon.  George 
H.  Boker.     Svo,  cloth  extra,  ioj.  6d. 

*  See  also  Rose  Library. 


List  of  Publications.  29 


Studies  in  the  Theory  of  Descent.  By  Dr.  Aug.  Weismann, 
Professor  in  the  University  of  Freiburg.  Translated  and  edited  by 
Raphael  Meldola,  F.C.S.,  Secretary  of  the  Entomological  Society 
of  London.  Part  I.  —  "On  the  Seasonal  Dimorphism  of  Butterflies," 
containing  Original  Communications  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Edwards,  of 
Coalburgh.  With  two  Coloured  Plates.  Price  of  Part.  I.  (to  Sub- 
scribers for  the  whole  work  only),  $s ;  Part  II.  (6  coloured  plates),  16s. ; 
Part  III.,  6s. 

Sugar  Beet  (The).  Including  a  History  of  the  Beet  Sugar 
Industry  in  Europe,  Varieties  of  the  Sugar  Beet,  Examination,  Soils, 
Tillage,  Seeds  and  Sowing,  Yield  and  Cost  of  Cultivation,  Harvesting, 
Transportation,  Conservation,  Feeding  Qualities  of  the  Beet  and  of 
the  Pulp,  &c.     By  L.  S.  Ware.     Illustrated.     8vo,  cloth  extra,  2 1  J. 

Sullivan  (A.  M.,  M.P.).     See  "  New  Ireland." 

Sulphuric  Acid  (A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Manufacture  of). 

By  A.  G.  and  C.  G.  LOCK,  Consulting  Chemical  Engineers.  With 
77  Construction  Plates,  and  other  Illustrations.    Royal  8vo,  2/.  12s.  6d. 

Sumner  (Hon.  Charles).     See  Life  and  Letters. 

Sunrise:  A  Story  of  These  Times.  By  William  Black, 
Author  of  "  A  Daughter  of  Heth,"  &c.     3  vols.,  31J.  6J. 

Surgeon's  Handbook  on  the  Treatment  of  Wounded  in  War.  By 
Dr.  Friedrich  Esmarch,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  University  of 
Kiel,  and  Surgeon-General  to  the  Prussian  Army.  Translated  by 
H.  H.  Clutton,  B.A.  Cantab,  F.R.C.S.  Numerous  Coloured 
Plates  and  Illustrations,  8vo,  strongly  bound  in  flexible  leather,  \l.  &s. 

Sylvan  Spring.     By  Francis  George  Heath.     Illustrated  by 

12  Coloured  Plates,  drawn  by  F.  E.  Hulme,  F.L.S.,  Artist  and 
Author  of  "  Familiar  Wild  Flowers;"  by  16  full-page,  and  more  than 
IOO  other  Wood  Engravings.     Large  post  8vo,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  12s.  6d. 


f^A  UCHNITZ'S    English    Editions    of    German    Authors. 
■*■     Each  volume,  cloth  flexible,  2s.  ;  or  sewed,  is.  6d.    (Catalogues  post 
free  on  application. ) 


(B.)  German  and  English  Dictionary.    Cloth,  is.  6d.; 


roan,  2s, 


2s.  6d. 


French  and  English.     Paper,  is.  6d. ;  cloth,  2s. ;  roan 


30      Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s  List  of  Publications. 


Tauchnitz  (B.)  Italian  and  English  Dictionary.   Paper,  \s.6d.; 
cloth,  2s.  ;  roan,  2s.  6d. 

Spanish  and  English.     Paper,  is.  6d. ;  cloth,  2S. ;  roan, 


2s.  6d. 

New  Testament.     Cloth,  2s. ;  gilt,  2S.  6d. 


Taylor  {Bayard).     See  "  Studies  in  German  Literature." 

Through  America  ;  or,  Nine  Months  in  the  United  States.  By 
W.  G.  Marshall,  M.A.  With  nearly  ioo  Woodcuts  of  Views  of 
Utah  country  and  the  famous  Yosemite  Valley ;  The  Giant  Trees, 
New  York,  Niagara,  San  Francisco,  &c. ;  containing  a  full  account 
of  Mormon  Life,  as  noted  by  the  Author  during  his  visits  to  Salt  Lake 
City  in  1878  and  1879.     In  I  vol.,  demy  8vo,  21s. 

Through  the  Dark  Continent:  The  Sources  of  the  Nile ;  Around 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  down  the  Congo.  By  Henry  M.  Stanley. 
2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  containing  150  Full-page  and  other  Illustrations, 
2  Portraits  of  the  Author,  and  10  Maps,  \2s.  Seventh  Thousand. 
Cheaper  Edition,  crown  8vo,  with  some  of  the  Illustrations  and  Maps. 
1  vol.,  \2s.  6d. 

Tour  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  India.     See  Russell. 

Trees  and  Ferns.  By  F.  G.  Heath.  .  Crown  8vo,  cloth,  gilt 
edges,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  y.  6d. 

Two  Friends.  By  Lucien  Biart,  Author  of  "  Adventures  of 
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post  8vo,  numerous  Illustrations,  gilt  edges,  "Js.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  5^. 

Two  Supercargoes  {The)  ;  or,  Adventures  in  Savage  Africa. 
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imperial  i6mo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  7s.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  5J. 

T  JNDER  the  Punkah.     By  Phil  Robinson,  Author  of  "In 

{-J  my  Indian  Garden."  Crown  8vo,  limp  cloth,  uniform  with  the 
above,  y.  6d. 

Up  and  Down ;  or,  Fifty  Years'  Experiences  in  Australia, 
California,  New  Zealand,  India,  China,  and  the  South  Pacific. 
Being  the  Life  History  of  Capt.  W.  J.  Barry.  Written  by  Himself. 
With  several  Illustrations.     Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  8.?.  6d. 


BOOKS  BY  JULES  VERNE. 


IiAKGK  CbOWX  8VO  .      .      . 

1  Containing  360  to  600  pp . 
.       and  from  60  to  100 
^  full-page  illustrations. 

Containing  the  whole  of  the 
text  with  some  illustrations. 

In  very 

In 

In  cloth 

handsome 

plainer 

binding,  gilt 

WORKS. 

cloth  bind- 

binding, 

edges, 

Coloured  Boards. 

ing,  gilt 

plain 

smaller 

edges. 

edges. 

type. 

i 

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s.    d. 

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Twenty  Thousand  Leagues 

•     10     6 

under  the  Sea.     Part  I. 

5    0 

3     G 

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Ditto.           Part  II. 

J 

Hector  Servadac      .     .     . 

10    6 

5    0 

The  Fur  Country     .     .     . 

10    6 

5     0 

3     G 

2  vols.,  Is.  each. 

From   the    Earth   to   the 

10    6 

Moon  and  a  Trip  round 

5     0 

2  vols.,  2s. 

2  vols.,  Is.  each. 

it 

j 

each. 

Michael       Strogoff,       the 

[     10    6 

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Dick      Sands,     the     Boy 

I     10    6 

5     0 

s.    d. 

Five  Weeks  in  a  Balloon  . 

7    6 

3     6 

2    0 

1     O 

Adventures  of  Three  En- 

} 

glishmen      and      Three 

f       7    G 

3     G 

2     0 

1     0 

Around      the     World     in 

J 

Eighty  Days     .... 

J.       7     G 

3     6 

2     0 

1     0 

A  Floating  City  .     .      .     .   •» 

The  Blockade  Runners      .   j        7     6 

r  2  o 

I    2     0 

1     0 
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Dr.  Ox's  Experiment    .     .  \\ 

Master  Zacharius     ... 

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I   7° 

]       7     6 

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| 

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"Chancellor".    \     .     . 

3     6 

,    2     0 

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Martin  Paz 

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The    Mysterious  Island, 

3  vols.  :— 

1     22     6 

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3     6 

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The  Child  of  the  Cavern  . 

7     G 

3    6 

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7    6 

The     Tribulations     of   a 

}       7    6 

♦ 

The  SteamHouse,2vo1s.:— j 

Vol.I.TheDemonofCawn-i          „     „ 

pore \       7     6 

Vol.11.  Tigers  and  Traitors           7     6 



j. 

Celebrated  Travels  and  Tbavellebs.    3  vols.     Demy  8vo,  600  pp.,  upwards  of  100 
full-page  illustrations,  12*.  ed.  ;  gilt  edges,  14s.  each  :— 

(1)  The  Exploration  op  the  World. 

(2)  The  Great  Navigators   op  the  Eighteenth  Centcbt. 
13)  The  Great  Explorebe  of  the  Nineteenth  Centubx. 


32     Sampson  Low,  Mars  ton,  &>  Co.'s  List  of  Publications. 


TJ/ALLER  {Rev.  C.  H.)  The  Names  on  the  Gates  of  Pearl, 
*V       and  other  Studies.     By  the  Rev.   C.  H.  Waller,  M.  A.     Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6.c 

A  Grammar  and  Analytical  Vocabulary  of  the  Words  in 

the  Greek  Testament.  Compiled  from  Briider's  Concordance.  For 
the  use  of  Divinity  Students  and  Greek  Testament  Classes.  By  the 
Rev.  C.  H.  Waller,  M.  A.  Tart  I.,  The  Grammar.  Small  post  8vo, 
cloth,  2s.  6d.     Part  II.  The  Vocabulary,  2s.  6d. 

Adoption   and    the    Covenant.      Some   Thoughts    on 


Confirmation.     Super-royal  i6mo,  cloth  limp,  2s.  6</. 

Warner  (C.  D.)  My  Summer  in  a  Garden.     Rose  Library,  is. 

. Back-log  Studies.    Boards,  is.  6d. ;  cloth,  2.?. 

—  In  the  Wilderness.     Rose  Library,  is. 

Mummies  and  Moslems.     8vo,  cloth,  1 2s. 

Weaving.     See  "  History  and  Principles." 

Wills,  A  Feiu  Hints  on  Proving,  without  Professional  Assistance. 
By  a  Probate  Court  Official.  5th  Edition,  revised  with  Forms 
of  Wills,  Residuary  Accounts,  &c.     Fcap.  8vo,  cloth  limp,  is. 

With  Axe  and  Rifle  on  the  Western  Prairies.  By  W.  H.  G. 
Kingston.  With  numerous  Illustrations,  square  crown  8vo,  cloth 
extra,  gilt  edges,  "js.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  $s. 

Woolsey  (C.  D.,  LL.D.)  Ln  trod  net  ion  to  the  Study  of  Lnter- 
national  Law  ;  designed  as  an  Aid  in  Teaching  and  in  Historical 
Studies.     5th  Edition,  demy  8vo,  i8j. 

Words  of  Wellington:  Maxims  and  Opinions,  Sentences  and 
Reflections  of  the  Great  Duke,  gathered  from  his  Despatches,  Letters, 
and  Speeches  (Bayard  Series).     2s.  6cf. 

Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor.  By  W.  Clark  Russell,  Author  of 
"John  Holdsworth,  Chief  Mate,"  "  A  Sailor's  Swee' heart,"  &c.  6s. 
Third  and  Cheaper  Edition. 


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